The Rivalry: No Holds Barred

College football recruitment is one of America's shadiest businesses. In particular, the competition for prized athletes between the programs at Oklahoma and Texas spurs a rivalry matched only in ferocity by the arabs and the jews. Mascot affiliated hucksters from these two institutions have pulled more fast ones on each other than Charlie Ponzi and Bernie Madoff. This rivalry is a "no holds barred" event.

So when Jamarkus McFarland, considered the best defensive tackle to hail from Texas in more than a decade, agreed to let let the NYTs follow him through the recruiting process. We knew there would be dirt. The legions of shadowy boosters from both schools make the scheming of the KGB look civilized.

McFarland's experience at a party thrown by Texas after this years OU-Texas game is easily the sexiest part of the story.

"I will never forget the excitement amongst all participants,” McFarland wrote. “Alcohol was all you can drink, money was not an option. Girls were acting wild by taking off their tops, and pulling down their pants. Girls were also romancing each other. Some guys loved every minute of the freakiness some girls demonstrated. I have never attended a party of this magnitude ... The attitude of the people at the party was that everyone should drink or not come to the party. Drugs were prevalent with no price attached."

Conversly, a sorority party he attended at Oklahoma was much more low key and specifically there was very little "romancing."
Seems an easy decision, no? If you are curious, get your booster on freak with the New York Times and find out which school McFarland chose. It's quite a romantic tale.

Goodnight Opus

The final panel of the Sunday comic strip Opus was revealed yesterday and somehow with the pervasive nuttiness of politics and life, I missed it. I've been a fan of the penguin Opus since spotting Bloom County back on a 1980's University of Texas campus filled with Steve Dallas look-alikes.

Berkeley Breathed told Salon he's ducking out of cartooning because he fears the nastiness of politics seeping into the strip. So little Opus has been put to bed for the last time, albeit in a picture perfect finale, leaving me and all the other Steve Dallas look-alikes not quite believing we missed Opus' goodbye and sadly certain we'll miss the Sunday morning get togethers from here on out. Click the picture for the final revel.

Sleep tight Opus.

Worst Week Ever?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its most volatile day ever Friday, oscillating more than 1,000 points before ending up 128 points down, capping the worst week in the Dow's 112-year history. The index lost 18.2 percent of its value between the opening bell Monday and closing bell Friday. Amid the panic, some very somber discussions are being held and all the papers lead with some kind of reaction to the bad news.

After the panic attack of reading about this subsided I turned to the sports page only be greeted by the nerve wracking proposition of todays Red River Shootout. The shootout is the greatest rivalry in sports and actually a college football game played the second weekend in October between Texas and Oklahoma. Texas is my team but ever since that maniac Bob Stoops' rolled into Norman I've been jumpier that a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Oklahoma has won 6 of the last 8 in part cuz Stoops is craftier than Mac Brown and now Oklahoma has Sam Bradford a magical Cherokee Indian at quarterback. Criminy!

They've been playing this game for over 100 years and because of the fanatical following of both schools and States, the game is played every year at a "neutral site" halfway between Austin and Norman. The roving bands of crazed supporters were too much for either little college town to handle so the game is held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, during the State Fair of Texas. The designated "home" team alternates from year to year, and ticket sales for the game are split 50–50 between the two schools, with the stadium divided along the 50 yard line. It's wild scene man cuz these people are crazed about beating each other and then there are carnival rides. This is not some Florida powder puff bullshit. The two programs have a combined 11 national championships since 1950 and this year a national title could again be on the line so expect total mayhem.

On the lighter my dad took me to the Texxas Jam in 1978 at the Cotton Bowl. And while perhaps not a highlight in the annals of responsible parenthood the video shot there of Aerosmith and the fairgrounds in '78 allows a brief respite from the worrys. Stop worrying, Texas Fight.

AND WE HAVE A WINNER