What I learned in 40 Days of Silence

Hello all. So for those of you who didn't know, I decided 40 days ago that I would fast from all things NBA and football that focused on the drama of the sport. That is confusing for some so let me briefly explain: the drama of the sport would be anything said by athletes that creates a backfire by ESPN, scandals (in this case it would be the Manti Teo scandal), and anything that didn't revolve around the sport itself. Because of the confusion it would cause, I found it easier to just tell people I couldn't discuss sports at all. I learned a lot about where I am in my faith as well as how much sports really meant to me before the fast. It was almost unhealthy. I do not plan to ever fully give up sports because I need a hobby and sports is an enjoyable hobby for me. I just needed time to gain perspective on what really matters.

Today is the first day since the fast and I'm just going to give short summaries on my thoughts on everything that has happened since I've been away and what I've had shoved in my face because of Facebook, Twitter, and other news outlets.

The Manti Teo Drama:
I don't care. I really do not care. I understand that at first it was shocking and just insane information but to me it just seemed like a lot of Hollywood drama similar to Tiger Woods scandal. Did it enhance the way he played the sport? No. Do I condone what he did? Absolutely not. There's not much more I can add to express how little I care about the scandal

Ravens Super Bowl Victory:
I had told people prior to the season starting that although I wouldn't ever call Joe Flacco elite, he's incredibly underrated and more likely to win a Super Bowl than Matt Ryan. To say his team carried HIM to the Super Bowl is plainly ignorant. Give the dude some credit, he's earned it. Overall, I'm still shocked the Ravens won the Super Bowl at all. I, nor anyone I had talked to, gave them a chance preseason so congrats to the Ravens.

Thunder Update:
From what I understand and what I've learned via Twitter, the Oklahoma City Thunder stand little to no chance to win the NBA Finals trophy if we are to rematch with the Miami Heat. There's no need for me to really dive into what-ifs and solutions to the Thunder's problems against the Heat because all I need is this one fact: the Thunder have lost six in a row to the Heat dating back to last year's NBA Finals. I'm merely hoping Derrick Rose comes back and just takes down the Heat. Even if this happens, the chances of sending Miami home aren't large.

I obviously did not have much to really cover but I am not completely up to speed on everything that has happened since my fast began. I will surely have more entries to come but in the mean time, this is all I have for now!

Landry Jones and OU: My Final Assessment of their 2012 Season

After an ugly loss to Johnny Manziel and the Texas A&M Aggies a lot of Sooner fans are left scratching their head for the future. That being said, there will be future blogs to come regarding that but I want to focus on the QB that is a hot topic amongst Sooner fans, Landry Jones. Landry Jones played his last game where it strangely began in JerryWorld and both had the same result, a loss. For those who know me, you know I've been quite harsh on Landry Jones after his Sophomore season--which was actually his best season statistically--but my final assessment may surprise you.

Watching the Cotton Bowl was not the easiest thing I've ever done as a Sooner fan. Actually, let me rephrase that. That 3rd quarter was the hardest thing I've had to watch as a Sooner fan and I attended the 2011 bedlam game where we lost 44-10. Where I was left speechless is not where most people would expect me to be (Landry Jones decision making), it was how Mike Stoops defense took it upon themselves to play the worst quarter of defense I have seen in a long time. The Cotton Bowl did nothing but reaffirm that the SEC is top dog and that Johnny Manziel is just a stud. Although I think Manziel CAN be stopped, that's not the point here.

Landry's senior season was the craziest thing I have ever seen from a QB. Landry would start the first 3 games averaging 258 yds/gm with 5 TDs and 3 turnovers (2 ints and 1 lost fumble). Decent numbers but his first two games were against UTEP and Florida A&M. He would have one of his worst games against Kansas State where you can argue he lost the game. In fact, I believe he did lose the game on his fumble returned for a TD and OU lost by 5. After I called for Landry to get benched, these are his numbers for the rest of the season: 349.4 yds/gm, 25 TDs, and 9 ints all while completing 66.7% of his passes. For those keeping count, he threw the ball an average 44.8 times a game during that span. Insane. The interceptions are a little much but the kid's a gunslinger. Those numbers are nothing short of impressive and if you watched the showdown against West Virginia, you would know Landry's audible on 4th and goal with the game on the line allowed OU to win the game. The next week he'd throw for 500 yds and 3 TDs that was HUGE in an OT win over the OSU Cowboys. Here is a fact: without Landry Jones under center OU loses to West Virginia, Oklahoma State, and maybe a red hot Baylor team ending the regular season at 8-4 or even 7-5. 

So what went wrong this season? The DREADFUL Mike Stoops defense during the second half of the season as well as poor offensive play calling by Josh Heupel. To be fair, Heupel called good plays most of the time but in key situations his offensive play calling could only be compared to watching a novice play Madden for the first time. The plays made no sense. Whether it was during bedlam in the first drive of the game where he put Blake Bell in at 1st and 10 in Cowboy territory to run an option play; that SAME GAME where on 3rd and short he put in Blake Bell to run a play action pass play; or last night where on 3rd and short he calls a pass play for Landry Jones. I'll also never understand how when OU played the (now) #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, a game where Landry Jones threw for 356 yds completing 68% of his passes why Heupel refused to allow Landry to just air it out against a defense that had our number on every run play allowing 15 yards rushing all game. Combine this with the insane amount of screens we like to run (especially on 3rd and long) I can't make sense of the play calling. If it worked that'd be one thing, but it simply was not working.

Between Mike Stoops and Josh Heupel there's absolutely no question that Mike Stoops defensive planning has been nothing short of terrible. In 4 of the last 5 games Mike Stoops defense allowed an average of 43 points a game. That's not winning defense. That's not the Mike Stoops defense we are used to seeing. Did anybody else watch how bad the tackling was? For those who decided not to watch the Cotton Bowl, here's a perfect reenactment.

At the end of the day, OU got a share of the Big XII title as well as another 10 win season. I'm proud to attend a university where a 10-3 record is disappointing even if it was to all 3 Heisman finalists. I was also too hard on Landry Jones and I do think we will miss him next season. He's no Sam Bradford or Jason White but he was a good QB. In the draft I wouldn't be too shocked if the Jets or Cardinals pick him up in the middle of the draft as well as the Dallas Cowboys. He can't be any worse than the QB's the Jets, Cardinals, or Cowboys at the NFL level.

Top 5 Most Beautiful Female Sports Reporter or Athlete

So we are now officially in a new year and everywhere on the internet and on TV there is a countdown of the "Top Something of 2012". Feeling bored and observant I noticed that nobody has done a countdown of what's TRULY important here: the most beautiful female sportscaster or athlete of 2012. I have taken it upon myself to give MY OPINION (I highlighted it for you in case you forget) of the most stunning women on sports television.

Honorable Mentions:

Erin Andrews:

When you think famous female sportscaster, you most commonly think Erin Andrews or--God forbid--Dorris Burke. This was the first college football season ESPN viewers had to adjust to no longer seeing the beautiful tall Erin Andrews give us the news. However, when you get past the looks and just look at her personality she's pretty dry. She is just your typical girl and although there is nothing wrong with that, I personally am into a girl that's more than just into shopping, shoes, and dancing. It's also quite a shame she didn't take her hotel accident (which was not her fault in anyway) and use her stage as a means to reach out to sexually assaulted victims. With the stage she has there's no reason to think she WOULDN'T make an impact in that market. Lets face it guys, she's not getting any prettier. That being said, she is still a solid 9.

Kate Upton:

This may be blasphemous for many but hear me out. Yes, Kate Upton has got to be one of the most beautiful beings God has ever created. HOWEVER, by my standards I'm not entirely digging the fact that there's very few pictures of her online in CLOTHES. She's the girl guys want to date but not marry and that in itself falls down on my list. Plus it's hard to put her on this list since she doesn't really cover sports...she was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and has dated several athletes as well do a segment with the Oklahoma City Thunder players Kevin Durant and James Harden. That's my justification of allowing me to talk about Kate Upton. If she decides tomorrow she wants to do work for God and make his name known and stops what she's doing, she's number one on this list with absolutely no questions asked.

5. Maria Sharapova

When it comes to Russia, the beautiful USA typically does better in every contest they challenge us at. There is one area they are more elite in and it's women's tennis. You know what? With someone like Maria Sharapova, I'm more than okay with them winning that category. She's only 25 years old and claims she's ready to settle down soon and have kids. If you have any connections with her please leave comments below on how I can make her dreams come true. Along with being stunning, she also is less about self and has been involved in quite a few philanthropy events. One of which involves her working with Jeb Bush in Florida to raise money for hurricane relief. She's very quiet politically but working with Jeb Bush did nothing but shoot her pretty far up in my books. God bless you Maria.

4. Charissa Thompson

I think this picture sums it up perfectly. Charissa has done quite a bit of work, but as of lately co-hosts Sportsnation with the arrogant and obnoxious Colin Cowherd. Sportsnation allows us to examine (what I hope to believe) is Charissa's personality 24/7. The girl can debate sports from just about every angle and she has a sense of humor that is just...so great. Oh, and she looks amazing.

3. Alex Morgan

STAY WITH ME HERE. I know some of you will say she should be #1 and trust me, this was very hard to do. Based on what I like however, I just had to put her at #3. At 23 years old and representing the greatest country in the world what's not to love about this 5'7 heart throb? The only thing that really hurts her is that I'm unable to find much about her personally and I need a little more than just smoking hot soccer champion. All I can find is she's into Yoga. If you can provide me with more info, I may reconsider this.

2. Samantha Ponder

This one is hard to comment on. Formally known as Samantha Steele (before marrying a below average starting NFL QB) barely missed the #1 spot and here's why she missed it: She got married. Samantha is so perfect outside of that flaw. I'll be honest, when I heard she would be Erin Andrews replacement, I was skeptical. How can you replace THE Erin Andrew's? It can't be done. I won't like it. You can't do it ESPN. Guess what? They not only replaced Erin Andrews, they had a massive upgrade. I got to see Samantha in person and she's (somehow) more beautiful in person than she is on TV. What gets her above Alex Morgan is the fact she has spoken up about her belief in God and if you know me, that gets you really far. Not only is she a God fearing beautiful blonde, she KNOWS WHAT SHE'S TALKING ABOUT WHEN IT COMES TO SPORTS. This is no Dorris Burkes folks, she's actually pretty sharp. What did it for me was when she used Twitter to reach out to the ignorant political commentator Bill Maher commenting on his unintelligent opinion on the shooting in Connecticut. In response to how he said,"Prayers and hugs won't fix the situation at hand." the near perfect Samantha Ponder pointed out that hugs and prayers are not only needed for the circumstance but that the monster that did the shooting most likely didn't believe in those methods either. I love a girl with some sass and boy does she have some. Outside of having a wedding ring not from me, I can't find anything about this girl I don't love.

1. Mary Morlan Isom (Mo)

I'm not even entirely sure where to begin. Mo played goalie at LSU for 4 years breaking many SEC records as well as almost becoming the first female player for LSU's football team as a kicker. This story drew me in to learn more and when I did, I was speechless. I encourage you guys to check out her life story as it'll tear your heart out. That's not why she's #1 though. I mean, just look at her. I've always been a bigger fan of brunettes over blondes as well as brown eyes over blue eyes so that fact Mo has both is just amazing. Mo recently graduated in spring 2012 and has been spending her time traveling across America speaking to young women about how God's changed her life which is allowing her to change others. I mean, the fact she's also remained pure and is a virgin is just astounding to me since she surely hasn't been snubbed by many guys (in my mind at least). She also scored a 90 yard goal which is just...unreal.

I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did. This is by far the most fun I've had composing a blog.