Happy Friday, friends and fans!

On Wednesday, Cody Ford showed off his new tattoo celebrating the four Big 12 Championships his Oklahoma Sooners won during his time at OU. Soon thereafter, long time assistant Cale Gundy shared the pic of Ford’s new ink and joked that he might get a whole sleeve for the 12 conference titles he’s been a part of.

Of course, nothing is ever left alone on social media, and with that came a challenge. Gundy was asked how many retweets it would take for him to get a Big 12 Championships themed sleeve, and he gave the public a number — 15K.

As of this moment that I’m typing this, Gundy’s tweet is sitting at about 7.9K RTs, so just over halfway. The cause is also getting assistance in the form of retweets from the likes of Baker Mayfield, so there’s hope. I think he needs to put a time limit on this thing because it just might get there in the next few days. Anyway, it’s cool of him to have a little fun with it. If it does indeed happen, he’s going to need to make sure to leave room for more championships, otherwise he might have to sleeve the other arm.

Here he is talking about how this whole thing unfolded. It sounds like Lincoln Riley is going to hold his guy to his word if it happens. Don’t let him call your bluff, Cale!

Now onto this week’s Friday edition of Hot Links! Bill Bedenbaugh said the O-line looked pretty bad at the start of spring practice, Hollywood Brown is running again, Lorenzo Cain nabs a win for the Brewers and more!

OU Links

• With the Spring Game quickly approaching, the next few weeks figure to be buzzing with recruiting activity. On Thursday night, Lincoln Riley sent out his famous eyes emoji, adding that it’s a “big one”. Stay tuned, folks.

• Cornerbacks coach Roy Manning isn’t all talk, but he can certainly jaw with the best of them. His infectious energy has reached his players this spring, and their practices have elevated because of it.

• OL coach Bill Bedenbaugh has built a reputation on putting together some of college football’s best offensive line units since he arrived in Norman six years ago, but this season he’ll have to replace as much experience as he’s ever had to before. OU Daily’s George Stoia reports that Bedenbaugh was not pleased with how the group looked at the beginning of spring practice, but since then the unit has improved significantly.
• Marquise Brown has had his boot removed following foot surgery. ‘Hollywood’ was unable to go through workouts at the NFL Combine and OU’s Pro Day earlier this month, but now he’s been cleared to begin running again.

• Shane Beamer is just telling it like it is. Big 12 titles and Heisman trophies are nearly synonymous with Oklahoma Football. Eventually these frames are going to have to be the 6x6 inch kind because there simply won’t be enough wall space to fit all the glory.

• This time last year, it seemed like Sam Darnold was the likely selection for the Cleveland Browns’ first overall pick, but of course Baker Mayfield ended up as the first player off the draft board. Sports Illustrated’s Kalyn Kahler wonders — does that mean Kyler Murray to the Arizona Cardinals should be more in doubt than it currently seems? (probably not)
• Oklahoma baseball is in Morgantown to take on Big 12 foe West Virginia this weekend. The Mountaineers (14-10, 0-3) have lost the last five contests against the Sooners dating back to 2017, but are also 6-0 at home this season. Only one of those streaks will continue after tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT. For radio and live stream info, check out the links embedded below.

• 2020 four-star safety Major Burns out of Baton Rouge, La. plans to attend Oklahoma’s Spring Game in April. Side note: had he been a wide receiver, his name would be perfect, unless of course he was slow, which he is not. It’s still a great name for a fast football player in general.

• Redshirt junior safety Chanse Sylvie does his part to give back to the community by volunteering for Meals on Wheels. As usual, the Sooners are comprised of exemplary individuals like Sylvie who not only try to deliver on the field of play, but also to those who follow them.

Around the Sports World

• Greg Schiano has stepped down as the New England Patriots defensive coordinator after being on the job for less than two months.
• MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo went down with an apparent ankle injury late in the Milwaukee Bucks’ win against the Los Angeles Clippers. Fortunately. the Greek Freak appeared to be okay in the locker room following the game.
• Lorenzo Cain basically made the baseball equivalent to a last-second block on a would-be game-winner (actually, this is better), and this one sealed the win for the Milwaukee Brewers over the St. Louis Cardinals.

• Tiger Woods is competing at the WGC-Dell Match Play, and he needed to improvise a lot on this shot. While on his knees, with a left-handed swing, and through the brush, he made this onto the green just feet from the cup. Incredible shot.

• Tim Duncan talking about the night the San Antonio Spurs drafted Manu Ginobili is hilarious. The Argentine-Italian had his No. 20 jersey retired on Thursday night. Gracias, Manu.

Stick to Sports!

• With spring in the air, prom season is upon us. One young couple did what many have done before them, which is arrange a photoshoot capture this memorable moment in their lives. What they did not include in their plans were zombies. That’s right, people dressed and made up to look like mindless, flesh-eating zombies totally photobombed their photoshoot. Scenes for AMC’s The Walking Dead are filmed nearby where the couple wanted to take pictures, so fans of the show routinely get into character there. I wonder if zombies are a bad omen for their relationship.

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