Paul Thompson's sacrifice

The Paul Thompson Story has the makings of fairy tale, provided the Sooners have a boffo season. And Thompson's regal standing -- his character, the respect he commands -- has only grown since he again was handed the OU huddle.

So, neither Thompson nor his story need embellishment. And that's exactly what people do when they keep talking about the sacrifices he's made for the Sooners.

Sacrifices? We are expanding the definition of the word if it applies to Thompson.

Let's review.

Thompson has been applauded for giving up his redshirt year as a true freshman in 2002. In the second game of that season, Jason White's knee blew against Alabama, and with Brent Rawls suffering torn ligaments in the thumb and the noggin, OU needed a backup.

Thompson really wasn't asked, but let's pretend he was. Say, Paul, do you want to be Nate Hybl's backup, and get a decent amount of practice snaps, and play in blowouts, and be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office? You telling me it's a sacrifice to say yes?

Thompson played in the very next game, against Texas-El Paso, and threw a touchdown pass to Travis Wilson. Later that night, Rawls fell out of a pickup, and by Sunday morning any rational listing of OU's 2003 quarterback prospects would have PT No. 1.

Of course, White's remarkable recovery condemned Thompson to backup status in 2003 and 2004, but Thompson even recovered his redshirt year in '04.

So, fast forward to 2005. Beaten out by Rhett Bomar, Thompson moved to flanker and had 11 catches for 108 yards. Then this summer, Bomar's career goes Big Red Dead, and suddenly the Sooners need a quarterback.

Say, Paul, do you want to stay at split end, where sophomores Malcolm Kelly and Juaquin Iglesias are budding stars, and where you'll split time with Manuel Johnson and Fred Strong and Brandon Caleb and Adron Tennell? Or do you want to be the Oklahoma quarterback without so much as an August derby; do you want the job that lured you to Norman in the first place; do you want the job that could make you a hero forever?

You telling me it's a sacrifice to say yes?

Sure, Thompson's NFL future, if he has one, is at receiver. But the pro scouts would just as soon see Thompson taking every snap at quarterback as opposed to playing every other down at receiver.

There is much to admire about Thompson. He's been dedicated and loyal. He's been knocked down and gotten back up. If this Sooner season finds its way to a championship, the Paul Thompson story takes its place among the most rousing in OU history.

It does not need embellishment. It does not include sacrifice.

Cheers
To Okmulgee's Ron Gardenhire, again proving he's one of baseball's best managers. The Twins were 27-34 on June 10. Since then, they are 49-20 and dueling the White Sox for the American League wild card. Detroit's Jim Leyland is an automatic for AL manager of the year. But Gardenhire, 435-342 in five years with the Twins and three division titles, is a keeper in Minnesota.

To my old high-school classmate John Russell, named International League manager of the year after leading Scranton-Wilkes Barre to the league's best record. It can't be long before the ex-Sooner slugger gets a crack at running a major-league dugout.

Jeers
To the college football arms race, which has moved from stadium size and comforts to auxiliary items like scoreboards. Texas' mammoth new scoreboard is ridiculous in size; 134 feet by 55 feet. When will it end?

To the continued trend of intersectional high school football games. Hoover, Ala., plays at Tulsa Union on Friday, the same night Edmond Santa Fe plays at Bastrop, La. Here's an idea. Hoover, stay in the South and go to Bastrop; Santa Fe, you go to Union; and high school football, try to keep a little of what innocence you have left.

Now or then:

Bomar's stadiums
Rhett Bomar is headed for culture shock at Sam Houston State, in many forms. Here's one.

In 2005, Bomar quarterbacked in these stadiums: Owen Field, the Rose Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, Arrowhead Stadium, Nebraska's Memorial Stadium, Texas Tech's Jones Stadium and San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium.

Let's see. That's two of the most storied campus coliseums in college football, two of the most storied bowls in college football and two NFL venues.

In 2006, Bomar's Bearkats will play in these ballparks: Bowers Stadium (Sam Houston), Ford Stadium (SMU), the Robert W. Plaster Sports Complex (Missouri State), Royal-Memorial Stadium (Texas), Harry Turpin Stadium (Northwestern Louisiana), Homer Bryce Stadium (Stephen F. Austin) and Strawberry Stadium (Southeastern Louisiana).

It's not just Pluto who has been demoted.

OSU's schedule
Who says OSU scrimmages are closed? The Cowboys offer three open scrimmages in September, starting Saturday night, when Missouri State drives over from the Ozarks to provide fodder.

Missouri State, Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic. Somewhere, Bill Snyder beams.

And things might not get better any time soon. The Cowboys have only Arizona penned in as a future foe from a BCS league.

OSU coach Mike Gundy is in no hurry to beef up the schedule. "Playing in the Big 12 South each week, it's a physical game," Gundy said. "If you're a top-10 team, go play whoever you want to.

"We look forward to getting started in the season and find out where we're at."

There's the rub. The Cowboys will have no idea where they are until Sept. 23, when they play at Houston U.

Gundy admitted as much, at least this week against I-AA Missouri State. "We can get a good feel, not for where we're at but where some of our players are at," he said.

The players themselves don't care, I don't think. They would get fired up for Notre Dame or USC, but otherwise, Missouri State, UAB, New Mexico, it's all the same to most players.

"They have athletes just like we do," OSU safety Andre Sexton said of Missouri State. "We can't take anyone lightly. It's still a game."

Don't lay all the cupcake blame on the current administration. Former athletic director Harry Birdwell adopted an easy-street philosophy, saying when OSU was bowling in December, its fans wouldn't care how the Cowboys got there.

Maybe. But selling tickets never has been easy in Stillwater; the recent price hike didn't help and neither will a steady diet of September exhibitions.

Terrell Owens training camp
Terrell Owens finally might play tonight in the Dallas Cowboys' final exhibition game, after a month in which a tender hamstring has ignited a Cowboy soap opera.

Owens, either through necessity or shrewdness, did what many an NFL star has done over the decades.

Take off August.

NFL training camps have been bloated for many years. In the 1950s and even into the '60s, when players reported after an off-season of distributing beer or selling insurance or coaching P.E., training camp was a handy way to whip the troops into shape.

But in the 21st century, just like in the last few decades, pro football players stay well-conditioned. They work out year-round. Every team has a variety of mini-camps to keep tabs on their prized products.

Training camps, which can go five or six weeks, are way too long. They mostly are excuses to have four exhibitions, two of which are included in teams' season-ticket package. In other words, camp is about money.

Some players figured that out long ago. So they hold out for a new contract, when in reality they just want to skip practice. So they feign injury, when in reality they are just trying to delay the long grind.

The NFL season is a roulette wheel. They are coliseum gladiators. Some will escape unscathed, but many won't. Every time they take a hit, every time they make a cut, the threat of injury is real.

The fewer times they put themselves at risk, the better off they are. Terrell Owens knows that, just like dozens of NFL stars before him.