How’s it going, my friends?

It’s not basketball season yet, but a nice bit of news has just come out regarding future Hall of Famer Lon Kruger. The head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball team has been announced as the new Chair of Coaches vs. Cancer, a nationwide collaborative program between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Going into its 25th year, Coaches vs. Cancer has raised over $100 million for the American Caner Society. Kruger has been a member of the council since 2007, and with his illustrious track record in collegiate athletics as well as the various communities he’s worked within, they couldn’t have selected a more deserving coach for this position. Congratulations, Kruger!

Now onto Hot Links! Trey Sermon could become the guy, Oklahoma linebackers run deep, West Virginia-NC State might get canceled this weekend and more!

OU Links

• Kyler Murray could have more designed runs called for him now that Rodney Anderson is done for the year, but it will be his arm that will determine how effective Oklahoma can be as the season wears on.
• With Anderson out for the remainder of the season, sophomore Trey Sermon has an opportunity to take hold of the primary running back spot. He showed flashes of greatness in his debut season, but consistency will be key moving forward.
• Linebacker depth in 2017 was dicey, but now the unit is deeper and playing with more confidence. A big part of why Oklahoma’s defense has shown improvement through two games is because of guys like Curtis Bolton and Kenneth Murray.
• Iowa State looked underwhelming in its contest against Iowa, but if there’s one thing the Cyclones have going for themselves as this weekend’s game with the Sooners approaches, it’s ISU’s defensive front.
• The Oklahoma men’s golf team rallied to win the Gopher Invitational, and Blaine Hale won the individual title. That’s two wins against quality fields in as many weeks to open the season. I’d expect another deep run from this team 2018-19.

• In case you missed it, Lincoln Riley addressed questions about Rodney Anderson’s future and how the Sooners will approach game planning without him going forward during Monday’s press conference.

Around the Sports World

• Back in 2014, the inaugural season of the College Football Playoff, one of the most controversial decisions in our brief CFP history was made. Ohio State jumped Baylor and TCU following the Conference Championship Weekend, and eventually went on to win the national title. The Big 12 brought back its championship game in part because of that turn of events. Now TCU and OSU are going to meet, but I’m sure there aren’t any hard feelings.
• West Virginia is scheduled to play at North Carolina State this Saturday, but with Hurricane Florence expected to arrive this week along the Carolina coast, it remains to be seen how that will affect the status of the game. NC State is already planning to cancel classes starting on Wednesday.
• Marshawn Lynch, aka ‘Beast Mode’, reinforced that very fitting moniker with this man-sized touchdown that was more of a grind than a run on Monday night. Also, credit the Raiders’ offensive linemen for that extra push.

• Flamethrowers on a baseball diamond? No, it’s not a new part of the game, it’s just how these groundskeepers were trying to prep the surface of the field to make it more playable.

• Playing air-anything is one thing, but to be spot on while air-drumming is quite impressive. Check out this man’s skills at the Bills-Ravens game from Sunday. He makes me want to shred.

Stick to Sports!

• On this day, 17 years ago, our nation was forever changed. As time has passed, wounds have scarred, but the losses will never be forgotten.

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