Biggest blow is yet to come

By Berry Tramel

Published: August 10, 2006

Loss of Bomar will weaken Sooners more in 2007

Rhett Bomar's departure hurts Oklahoma football in 2006. It could cripple the Sooners in 2007.

Paul Thompson, love him or leave him, is a wondrous safety net for this Sooner football team. An experienced player, a bonafide leader. There are worse traits in a quarterback.

But Thompson is gone after this season, and the bunkhouse is thin: Joey Halzle and Sam Bradford, neither of whom has taken a Sooner snap. OU coaches don't know whether Bradford can play, and they apparently believe Halzle can't, considering the automatic elevation of Thompson back to the captain's chair without so much as a competition.

OU will go quarterback hunting this offseason, but even if it signs a big-stud high schooler, what relief does that bring in 2007? Vince Young, Bobby Reid, Bomar himself, we've got plenty of eyewitnesses who can attest to the slow maturation of quarterbacks.

On occasion, you can strike gold in the junior-college ranks. Josh Heupel being Exhibit A. But can the Sooners be that fortunate twice within eight years? Not likely.

So while 2006 looks a little shaky at quarterback, 2007 looks like a wipeout.

Here's a good way to judge it. What's the difference between Bomar 2006 and Thompson 2006? Significant, I would say. Bomar was decent the second half of last season and getting better; Thompson hasn't taken even a practice snap since December and hasn't been in quarterback mode since last September. Thompson is what he is; Bomar was going to be good.

OK, now what's the difference between Bomar 2007 and whoever 2007? A mighty, mighty gulf. Bomar might have reached star status next season. Barring lightning in a bottle, OU's 2007 quarterback will be in a total state of learning.

Plus, you've got the Adrian Peterson factor. Bomar, Thompson, even Heupel himself, doesn't matter who quarterbacks. Peterson is the focal point of the '06 offense.

Peterson will be the focal point of an NFL offense in '07, so the new QB will have no such cushion.

Bomar's departure hurts in '06. It really hurts in '07.

Cheers & Jeers: OSU fan Kay Norris, Dallas' Bill Parcells

Cheers
To college football rule changes. Coaches are griping already, but the moves to speed up the game -- including starting the clock as soon as the ball is kicked off -- will make for a better product.

To the life of Kay Norris, the OSU fan extraordinaire who died in July from cancer. Norris spearheaded the memorabilia collection for Gallagher-Iba Arena's Heritage Hall. She was a gracious, charming woman who was the best ambassador OSU ever had.

Jeers
To OU football's treatment of its fans. Closing practice is legit; retooling the offense in secret is solid strategy. But limiting media access only hurts the consumer. Removing names from the backs of jersey is another affront to fans. Perhaps OU has forgotten who pays the freight.

To Bill Parcells' cantankerous responses to queries about Terrell Owens. Hey, Bill, if you want peace and tranquillity, don't invite the circus to town.

Now or then: Cubs vs. Reds
The Cubs' curse might never be more manifested than in the star-crossed careers of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. The hard-throwing right-handers seemed to give the Cubs a bright future, but now arm trouble has both careers in doubt.

Wood, now 29, is headed for a bullpen future; he's made only 36 starts the last three years after going 14-11 with 266 strikeouts in 2003.

Prior, 25, is 1-5 with a 6.64 ERA this season. He's made only 56 starts since his breakout year of 2003, when he was 18-6 with 245 strikeouts.

Sad tales of two pitchers with more strikeouts than innings pitched.

But the Cubs have nothing on the 1970s Reds. Cincinnati kept turning out amazing young pitching talent, and it kept getting hurt.

Wayne Simpson went 14-3 with 10 complete games as a 21-year-old in 1970. But Simpson faltered and soon was traded.

Don Gullett came up in 1970 at the age of 19, went 5-2 and then was 16-6 with a 2.65 ERA the next year. He produced the best winning percentage of the decade, .686 (109-50), but didn't stay healthy. After the age of 23, he never made more than 22 starts in a season. Gullett left for the Yankees in free agency and lasted just two years; he was 27 when he retired.

Gary Nolan came up in 1967 at the age of 18, turned 19 a month later and went 14-8 with a 2.58 ERA, one of the best teen-age seasons in baseball history. But he hurt his arm in 1968 and lost his fastball. Still, Nolan was an effective pitcher. He was hurt again in 1973, came back for two more solid seasons, then the Reds traded him in 1977 and he retired after that season, at the age of 29. Nolan's career stats: 110-70, with a 3.08 ERA.

The Reds in the '70s were great, anyway. They won two World Series and played in two others. But had Nolan and Gullett stayed healthy, the Reds would have been the greatest team of all time.

Mark McGwire in the Hall of Fame?
The Hall of Fame season has passed, with both Cooperstown and Canton staging carnivals the last two weekends, and now we look ahead to 2007.

The year of Mark McGwire.

Will Big Mac make the Hall of Fame? Almost certainly not. McGwire not only is the victim of perceived bad judgment, with many assuming he used steroids to help him hit 70 homers in 1998 and 583 for his career, but also of bad timing.

This year, the Baseball Hall of Fame class was a dud: Bruce Sutter, who didn't really belong, and 17 Negro Leaguers, a number too great to honor any individuals. If McGwire had been eligible this year, he might have stood a fighting chance.

Next year, no way. Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. become eligible, and they are first-ballot automatics. Those voters who sometimes check a name just to see someone go in won't have to worry about that in 2007.

McGwire is the first of the steroid-era sluggers to knock on Cooperstown's door. He's also the most attractive. Unlike Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Jose Canseco, McGwire walked away from the game when it was apparent the scandal was about to blow. And despite ducking questions before Congress, McGwire at least displayed an attitude of contrition.

But still, McGwire will have to wait on the Hall of Fame. Who knows for how long?