How are things, friends and fans? If you’ve been in the loop as of late, you know that there are several Oklahoma Sooners who have made it onto preseason award watch lists. Well add one more, because senior punter/placekicker Austin Seibert has made both the Ray Guy and the Lou Groza Award watch lists!

The Guy Award is presented to the nation’s top punter, and the Groza Award is for the best kicker. Oklahoma has never had a player win either of those awards, but 2018 will be Seibert’s fourth year pulling double duty in the special teams department. His consistent performance certainly warrants watch list recognition for all he does in the kicking game. If only they had an award for regularly booting it through the end zone on kickoffs. Man, Big Seib would win that in a landslide.

Now onto today’s Hot Links. Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns are officially official, the Wishbone Offense turns 50, Andrew Jones beat cancer and more!

OU Links

• It was never in doubt, but a big congratulations to Baker Mayfield is in order for officially putting ink to paper with the Cleveland Browns! Now go do some big things, my dude!

• Speaking of Mayfield, FOX is coming out with All The Way Up: Baker Mayfield, a special about the No. 1 overall draft pick and what it took for him to reach this point. It premiers this Sunday, and it looks dope.

• Secondary coach Kerry Cooks talked about what makes coaching a player like Brendan Radley-Hiles so intriguing, and how ‘Bookie’ has been influential for the coaches on the recruiting trail without having even played a down yet.

• The Kansas football players who turned down the pre-game handshake with Baker Mayfield want to let people know that they regret that decision and have since learned from it.
• Bovada has released an updated list of the odds for 60 FBS teams to make the College Football Playoff, and Oklahoma is inside the top 10 nationally. Not much of a shock there.
• The Wishbone Offense turns 50 years old this season, and it was transformative for individual programs like Oklahoma, as well as for the game of college football as a whole. In fact, you can still see its influence on the game to this very day.

Around the Sports World

• The Cleveland Cavaliers have secured Kevin Love with a four-year, $120 million extension. I guess the Cavs envision building a team around Love. We’ll see how that goes.
• There’s a QB controversy in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but long-time starter Jalen Hurts informed Nick Saban that he intends to stay with the Crimson Tide.
• Nebraska head coach Scott Frost laid out a possible eight-team playoff format, and it appears feasible from a functionality and a logistical perspective.
• The Tour de France is for tough people, and Philippe Gilbert is one tough dude. After breaking his knee cap mid-race, Gilbert rode with it for another 60km (about 37 miles). Here’s the aftermath. Ouch.

• It’s been about six months since Texas guard Andrew Jones was diagnosed with cancer, and now Jones is back on the court. What a feel-good story that is. Keep fighting, Andrew!

Stick to Sports!

• British actor Simon Pegg, known for his roles in hits like Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, recently shut down rumors that he was trying to land the cinematic role of superhero ‘Captain Britain’. With the success of the comic book film genre over the last decade, it would be interesting to see a film on the scale of some of Marvel’s recent movies take place across the pond, since most are typically based in the U.S. Also, Pegg is a phenomenal actor who can be both funny and emotionally provoking, so if there ever is a Captain Britain film in the works, he wouldn’t be a bad choice at all.

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