This is getting really old, really fast. Listening to "overrated" chants from mediocre, mid-major student sections. Watching our teams come completely unraveled in big games, under adversity, or on the road. "Choke-lahoma"? I'm sorry, but at this point I would have to absolutely agree with that nickname.

It's unbelievable that we have to endure this year, after year, after year. And today was the perfect firestorm:

Football

This was absolutely an awful performance all around. It was the worst regular season loss points-wise since October 8, 2005 when an unranked OU team fell to #2 Texas 45-12. It was possibly the most embarrassing loss since the Orange Bowl fiasco against USC (55-19) at the close of the 2004 season. And it was the worst regular season loss to an unranked team since a 34-3 drubbing by Texas in the 1998 Red River Rivalry. It was probably, without a doubt, one of the worst losses of Bob Stoops' tenure - if not the worst. 

What concerned me the most was a complete lack of effort. It looked like guys just didn't care at all. And this has been a problem all year. We have won a total of 1 game away from Norman. ONE! That's it! That's absolutely abysmal. That speaks to a huge coaching failure. If you can't get your guys fired up enough to look at least somewhat competent on the road, you should be questioning your methods. The last time OU only won 1 game away from Norman was in 1997. Before that, it was in 1965 (you could argue 1992, but it's cloudy because of ties away from home). Obviously this is a pretty rare feat in the rich history of Sooner football.

Congratulations guys! You will go down as one of the worst teams in the history of Sooner football. But it wasn't for trying, because it certainly didn't look like you were doing any of that today. Even if  you win out, which is somewhat uncertain given a good Oklahoma State team coming into town in a week (followed by maybe a bowl game), this would be the 14th worst winning percentage of any Sooner team since 1946. One more loss, one more slip-up, and it will probably be the 9th worst season since 1946, and the 22nd worst season of all time (since 1896). Don't you have any pride?!?

More embarrassment after the jump.

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Flags (via tjroberts79)

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, right? We could take the time here to run down all the accomplishments of Sooner athletes this year, but the list may get a little long. Suffice it to say that the Sooners were represented on the national stage and with national accolades across the board in most sports. If I get the time, I may make a list for everyone to take a look at, but for now, take a look at this excellent video put together by the OU Athletics Department.

2008-09 OU Athletics Year in Review (via soonersportscom)

As an aside, I'd like to mention that the OU Athletics Department is definitely one of the elite athletics departments in the country. From the facilities to the people, it is hard for other universities' athletics departments to match their excellent. Recent awards given to A.D. Joe Castiglione show that the rest of the country is taking notice. I mention this because I'm always taken by how well done their videos always are, and because I'm hoping for another excellent intro video this year at Owen Field!

Boomer Sooner!

All is quiet for now in Sooner Sports. Summer practices for football should begin in the next week or so. Until we start getting stories related to that, the news flow on the Sooner sports teams should be at a slow trickle.

Time for a quick Twitter update from the Sooner world. Let's start off with Jeff Capel, who mentions a story that will be linked below:

I am very excited to have 2 former Sooners returning to my staff. Jozsef Szendre (Yoyo), as my S&C coach, and Michael Neal as grad mngr! --Jeff Capel

Blake Griffin must love San Francisco for some reason. He gives a plug for a local eating establishment:

Great day of workouts. Having dinner with my trainer and brother at Parma. Great spot in SF.

On to the stories, since Bob Stoops and Sherri Coale's Twitter accounts remain very quiet. We have a slate of 8 links for you today, ranging from basketball, to football, to baseball!

Szendrei, Neal Join Capel's Staff | SoonerSports.com
Oklahoma men's basketball coach Jeff Capel announced today that former OU players Jozsef Szendrei and Michael Neal have joined his staff.

Griffin, Paris Sportspersons of the Year | SoonerSports.com
Oklahoma's Blake Griffin and Ashley Paris were named the 2008-09 Big 12 Sportspersons of the Year, the conference announced Wednesday.

Blake Griffin at the Combine - Crunching the Numbers | Clips Nation
Now that all of the numbers are in from the Chicago draft combine, I wanted to take some time and put Blake Griffin into the context of some of the other draft prospects of recent years.

Oklahoma Gets The #2 Preseason Ranking | AthlonSports.com
Go ahead and make as many jokes as you want about college football’s perennial brides- maids and their BCS bowl flameouts. As long as the Sooners keep winning 11 or 12 per year, they’ll happily endure your barbs.

T. Boone Pickens: OU a `front-runner' for BCS | SI.com
"They're going to have a good football team," Pickens said Wednesday before a speech in Oklahoma City. "Oklahoma's going to have a good football team. I'd say both schools. No question, OU. OU's got to be the front-runner for the BCS."

Former Sooner Still Alive In Reality Show | NewsOK.com
Former Sooner Moses Washington, whom I wrote about here earlier this year, is still alive and kicking in Michael Irvin’s reality show "4th and Long" on Spike TV, where the winner will earn a tryout at training camp with the Dallas Cowboys.

Wise Named Finalist for Johnny Bench | SoonerSports.com
Senior catcher J.T. Wise was named one of three finalists for the 2009 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award delivered by Papa John’s Pizza.

Castiglione Named to Forum | SoonerSports.com
Oklahoma's Joe Castiglione is among a group of current athletics directors and 11 football coaches from past NCAA Expert Coaches Academies invited to a new program called the NCAA Champions Forum.

Well, it's been awhile since I've tried this, and a new feature here at SBNation makes this a whole lot easier - how about a links post? Obviously, things are pretty quiet this time of year for college sports, and the Sooners were just eliminated from the baseball postseason. So, without further ado, here's the biggest links that I could find:

Blake Griffin says No. 1 pick is no given | NewsOK.com
"I’m planning it as if I don’t know right now, which I don’t," said Griffin, who was in Chicago on Thursday for the NBA draft combine. "I’m not going to guarantee anything. I’m going through it just like everybody else is."

Capels welcome second daughter | NewsOK.com
Capel’s wife, Kanika, gave birth to the couple’s second daughter on Tuesday, welcoming Sydney Gabrealle Capel. The baby went home Thursday.

Where does Stoops rank on a national scale? | Tulsa World Blog
It is an annual rite of (anything to get us through) summer for college football freaks ... lists. Today's category should get the attention of Oklahoma followers -- the top college football coaches in the land. Think his latest BCS setback has cost Bob Stoops some rank? Let's see...

OU-BYU Game Information | Tulsa World
Start the countdown on the Sooners and Cougars facing each other in the new $1.15 billion Cowboys Stadium. The game is set for Saturday, Sept. 5. This week, the public received its first inside look at the stadium during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

OU's Stoops, Castiglione react to A.D. Award | Tulsa World
After Oklahoma’s Joe Castiglione was named the athletic director of the year at the Sports Business Awards on Thursday night in New York City, both Castiglione and OU football coach Bob Stoops reflected on OU's outstanding sports year.

Daily Roundtable - Tebow, McCoy, or Bradford? | CollegeFootballNews
Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, or Colt McCoy. Which one would you take if you take for this year if you were starting a college team. It's the Friday topic in the CFN Daily Roundtable Discussion. (Hint: none of them pick Bradford)

The key for the non-BCS: Just win | ESPN
The undefeated season. It's become the Holy Grail for teams from the Mountain West, WAC, Conference USA, Mid-American and Sun Belt, the five conferences that don't earn an automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series. It's the only way the 52 teams from those conferences get a sniff at a BCS bowl.

Coaches' final Top 25 ballots to be kept confidential | ESPN
College football coaches who vote in the USA Today Top 25 coaches' poll will no longer have to reveal their final regular-season ballots beginning in 2010.

Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione. Image via static.newsok.biz

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Fresh off the presses, word is the Joe Castiglione has been named the NCAA Athletic Director of the Year. I'll run a few excerpts by you, and they'll be lifted from this well written Sooner Sports press release.

With a Heisman Trophy winner, the recipient of both the Wooden and Naismith Awards and seven Big 12 Players of the Year, it has been a banner year for Oklahoma's Athletics Department. The leader of that department, Joe Castiglione, added to the hardware Thursday night when he was named Athletics Director of the Year at the Sports Business Awards in New York City.

It is true that the Oklahoma athletic teams have enjoyed a ton of success this year. Here's a small cross section of those accomplishments:

• Heisman Trophy winner (Sam Bradford)
• Wooden Award winner and Naismith Award winner (Blake Griffin)
• Seven Big 12 Players of the Year in different sports.
• Football team reaches the national championship game.
• Women's basketball team reaches the Final Four
• Men's basketball team reaches the Elite Eight
• Four Sooner athletic teams won Big 12 Championships

This is just another prestigious award that Castiglione has received lately:

The OU Athletics Department was recognized in 2007 with the prestigious PRISM Award, which annually recognizes one Division I intercollegiate athletics department that demonstrates industry-leading excellence and innovation in sports management.

All in all, a good year for OU sports, and they aren't done yet! A big congratulations to Joe Castiglione for the award and a thank you for all that he does!

So, unless you've been living in a cave lately, you've probably at least heard the word Twitter spoken. For those of you who don't know, Twitter is a social networking site that allows people, or organizations, to post quick updates or thoughts on what's going on in their lives.

There has been an increasing usage of Twitter by athletes and coaches, and even teams and athletics departments. It is an easy way to keep people up to date on the latest news. Heck, even journalists are using it to give readers quick access to the big headlines.

One of the most popular athletes to use Twitter has been Shaq (here's his Twitter page). To Shaq's credit, he has been very interactive in his Twitter use, often "tweeting" back at fans. Also to his credit, he's hilarious and so it's entertaining to read - probably why he has over a million followers right now.

So, it's not a surprise to see some people with OU connections start tweeting. Here's the ones that I could find (post in the comments if you know of any more):

• Jeff Capel
• Bob Stoops (To be fair, he hasn't posted anything yet. Come on Bob!!)
• Sherri Coale (That goes for you too Sherri!)
• Blake Griffin
• OU Athletics Department

Looks like Blake has been the one who has kept up with it the most (besides the Athletics Department who basically posts everything they put on their main page). Jeff Capel is also doing a nice job. Hopefully they'll keep getting more entertaining. It's nice to get a little window into their thoughts, however small that window may be.

With that, on to more sour news, which is that Juan Pattillo has been dismissed from the basketball team. You can scroll down to read the story I just posted, or click here.

On the other bball court, a major congratulations are in order for Whitney Hand and Danielle Robinson who were both named to the 14 finalists for the USA's World University Games team. Hand was one of only 2 freshman who made it that far. The roster will get pared down to 12 in June, and those people will make it to Belgrade, Serbia to represent the United States. With only 2 people being eliminated from here, it's extremely unlikely both Robinson and Hand will be eliminated. Said Robinson:

"I have been through this experience before and didn't make the team," Robinson said, "so it feels good to be named one of the finalists. It's great to be recognized as one of the elite players and to be playing with the nation's best players, so I'm definitely excited about the opportunity."

Whitney Hand and Danielle Robinson (left and center respectively) are two bright young stars for OU. Image from ou.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com.

Finally, from the baseball diamond, OU recently swept the A&M Aggies (h/t subliminalnirvanaist in FanPost). The Big 12 pool stage bracket is set. Details are available here (Sooner Sports). They will have to be the best of the group including Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Missouri. The winner of this pool will advance to play the winner of the other pool in the Big 12 championship game.