What’s up, Sooner Nation?

I hope you all had a nice weekend. With the rainy weather in the area, it hasn’t been scorching hot here in Oklahoma as of late, but maybe the dog days of summer are still getting to some folks’ heads. Take this guy, for instance:

Now before you think this is just some misleading headline imbued with offseason satire, just know it’s completely serious. It appears the writer, David Hookstead, actually believes Baker Mayfield’s engagement to his girlfriend Emily Wilkinson over the weekend is a sign that Mayfield’s focus isn’t on football or the Cleveland Browns.

First off, congratulations, Baker. You and Emily make a beautiful couple. Did Samaje teach you how to take a knee? Sorry not sorry, Cowboys fans. I had to do it.

Secondly, calm your delusional, far-reaching self down. Out of all the ridiculous takes people have had regarding Mayfield, this one is first-ballot HOF worthy. You know what Baker Mayfield is before being a football player, David? He’s a son, a brother, and a boyfriend (now fiancé). To sum it all up, the dude is a person like the rest of us. Instead of criticizing the man about how he chooses to live his life, step away from the keyboard and take a seat. My gosh, bro, you sound obsessed. I haven’t seen this much objection to an engagement since Season 1 of The Crown.

After you take a breather to remind yourself that not everything in the world is as profoundly inane as what you just read in the link above, check out the rest of today’s Hot Links! EJ Ndoma-Ogar baptizes D-linemen, Spencer Rattler and future Sooner receivers deliver a preview of things to come, LeBron is now LA-Bron and more!

OU Links

• RJ Young caught up with all the action at Nike’s The Opening Finals, and class of 2019 four-star offensive guard commit EJ Ndoma-Ogar was a man amongst boys. As Ndoma-Ogar put it, he baptized the dude. Wow!

• Four-star receiver commit Trejan Bridges is also in attendance, and he showed off his exceptional hands on this spectacular over-the-head reception.

• Check out QB Spencer Rattler connecting with Bridges. Something tells me Oklahoma Sooners fans are going to see plenty of this connection on Owen Field in the years to come.

• Rattler also linked up with four-star Oklahoma receiver commit Arjei Henderson. The future is too bright. It’s too bright, I say!

• Four-star tight end commit Austin Stogner looks like a young Mark Andrews running routes and getting open. I can hardly wait to see what this young man does in Lincoln Riley’s offense.

• Class of 2019 four-star tight end Keon Zipperer out of Lakeland, Florida has over 30 offers from around the nation, but has reportedly trimmed his list down to Alabama and Oklahoma.
• For a bit of background on The Opening Finals, here’s a quick read.
• Commits aren’t the only ones doing work in North Texas, as Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown and Kyler Murray spent some time with elite Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Antonio Brown in Allen, TX. Keep doubting them, naysayers. Are they still just a bunch of pretenders?

• Sooner Tracker’s Nike-era Uniform bracket is here, and there are some tough matchups from which to choose. Personally, I don’t necessarily have a favorite, but the unis from last season’s Iowa State game can disappear off the face of the planet for all I care. All crimson should never happen anyway. You can find examples of each uniform in the attached tweets, so make sure to vote in each poll to help decide the winner!

Around the Sports World

• The OKC hate on Twitter is real, but Vice correspondent Jay Caspian Kang is here to put people in their place:

• It’s being reported that Lance Stephenson and JaVale McGee will also be joining James in L.A., which is hilarious. The Lakers are going to look more different than just about every other team in the association come next season.

• The national teams for Australia and the Philippines had one of the most intense basketball brawls in recent memory, and there’s tons of video footage from all angles. I sense some tension between these squads.

Stick to Sports!

• The longest total lunar eclipse or ‘blood-moon’ of the 21st century will occur on July 27th, but unfortunately for those in North America, it won’t be visible. If you happen to be somewhere in Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand or South America later this month, you’ll get a nice view of the nearly two-hour blood-moon.

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