What’s good, friends and fans? The 13th season of HBO’s NFL reality series Hard Knocks is gearing up for production, and the team that the critically-acclaimed series will follow this time around is Cleveland. This will be the first time the show covers the Browns, and that’s particularly interesting for Sooner fans because of course, our very own Baker Mayfield was sent to Cleveland with the No. 1 overall pick.

The show has been a bit of a letdown in recent years, but I’m interested in watching more of it this season now that I know Baker Mayfield figures to be a prominent player in the series. I mean... come on. Baker Mayfield and HBO is a match made in television heaven. Last season, the show covered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Gerald McCoy made sure to represent his Oklahoma Sooners loudly and proudly. I’d expect Mayfield to do him one better.

Now onto Hot Links! Adrian Peterson has made more money than any other running back in NFL history, Arjei Henderson can hardly wait to play against the Longhorns, the Vegas Golden Knights went all out for their playoff game intro and more!

OU Links

• Congratulations to the Oklahoma men’s golf team for winning the Norman Regional and advancing to the NCAA Championships for the eighth season in a row. Boomer!

• Can Oklahoma go back-to-back and win two Heisman Trophies in a row? According to the odds makers, two Sooners have 25/1 odds or better of winning the 2018 Heisman. Check out where they rank among the other college football preseason favorites.
• ESPN’s Jake Trotter says the position battle at center is the most hotly contested for the Oklahoma Sooners as we transition from spring to summer.
• Diehards’ John Shinn answers the question of whether or not 2018 will be the final season at Oklahoma for Rodney Anderson. Shinn makes some excellent points, so I’d highly recommend taking a look.
• Speaking of running backs, sure, RBs (and all other players) get paid a lot more today than they did a couple decades ago, but it’s still cool to know that Adrian Peterson has the most all-time earnings for a running back in NFL history. I’ll count this as another win for RBU.

• Former TCU offensive tackle Joe Noteboom has lined up against Ogbo Okoronkwo many times in college, and now they’re teammates for the Los Angeles Rams. Noteboom says Okoronkwo is the best pass-rusher he’s ever faced.
• Steele Walker and Kyler Murray are Oklahoma’s top two pro-baseball prospects, but head coach Skip Johnson has his guys focused on the matter at hand rather than the MLB Draft. Walker is a likely first-round pick, and if or when Murray finally decides to hang up his football cleats, he figures to be an early-round selection as well.
• Check out this Inquisitr interview with 2019 elite receiver commit Arjei Henderson. Henderson talks about what drew him to commit to Oklahoma, and why he’s excited to play against Texas.
• Oklahoma has been building a California pipeline on the recruiting trail over the years, and this season could see as many as five Sooner starters that call Cali home.
• Former Oklahoma men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson is reportedly the leading candidate to become the Orlando Magic’s next head coach. It would be pretty interesting for Sooner fans if both Sampson and Trae Young went to the Magic.

• In case you missed it, don’t forget to check out RJ’s conversation with junior college signee Tramonda Moore. Moore is originally from Oklahoma City, but had to take the JUCO route to earn academic eligibility at OU. His junior college, Independence CC, will be featured on the third season of Netflix’s ‘Last Chance U,’ coming this July.

Around the Sports World

• Like any league, there are always surprise teams that aren’t on the preseason radars of pundits and prognosticators. Last season in the NFL, there were a handful of surprise teams with varied success, including the Super Bowl winning Philadelphia Eagles. So which surprise teams from last season have the best chances to continue that success this year?
• Check out this insane catch made by the Oakland Athletics’ Stephen Piscotty. Piscotty ends up over the wall and among the fans, but the ball is in his glove and that’s all that matters. Amazing stuff.

• Katie Ledecky might actually be a mermaid, because this girl can fly in the water. Ledecky just broke her own world record for the 1500m by a staggering five seconds, giving her the eight fastest 1500m times in history. U-S-A!

• Former Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer has agreed to become the Milwaukee Bucks head coach. Sources report Budenholzer’s contract with the Bucks is a four-year deal.

• In the NHL Western Conference Finals, the Vegas Golden Knights are up 2-1 over the Winnipeg Jets, but the real story has to be the Golden Knights’ epic intro from last night’s game. The theatrics are off the charts, and I know I’d be pumped if I was in that arena. Awesome stuff.

Stick to Sports!

• The RED Hydrogen One has been touted as a revolutionary smart-phone that will employ a holographic display for 3D viewing. No one knows to what extent how this display will actually manifest, but to me it sounds like a device straight out of the world of Iron Man. The official date for its release has not been announced, nor the price, but it should be available through Verizon and AT&T later this summer.

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