ESPN tourney Misery index

[WaymanFan]

You've had a very good life then.

C’mon, no need to instigate. Nearly all of us are capable of putting sporting events into proper perspective. In regards to sports, it was the worst night of my life by far...but like all of us, I’ve had many worse days.

 

[Jeopardude]

Yep....not a good game for ol' "Amazing". If I remember correctly, "Soul Man" Seiger hit about 5 or 6 threes in the first half of that game. That was just a night where an inferior KU team played out of their minds.....much akin to Villanova's win over Patrick Ewing and Georgetown a few years earlier.

That and Tubbs not subbing out anybody in the second half. Everybody was gassed at the end and KU got some short baskets an energetic D would've helped out there.

 

[WaymanFan]

That and Tubbs not subbing out anybody in the second half. Everybody was gassed at the end and KU got some short baskets an energetic D would've helped out there.

Yeah...still waiting for Andre Wiley (who came up big two nights earlier) to enter the game .

 

[MJSooner]

I will never forget Rick Barry's kid "Scooter" playing the best game of his life. <sigh>

Lol. I think Scooter Berry only had the 1 FT at the end as his only point. But it was that painful.

It was Chris Piper that hit those big buckets down the stretch. Him and Milt Newton were the unsung heroes in that game. Larry Brown went to a stall offense the last 10-12 minutes and burned the clock, and it seems like Piper hit two huge buckets as time expired.

Because of stall ball, they held us to 29 points the second half and for a team scored 100 or more 20 times, that killed us.

 

[Soonerinkc]

Haha, I had my hair cut exactly like Seiger's and I was a three-point shooter in high school so my teammates called me Dave all the time :ez-roll:

I was white.... that’s why I was called that at the park...

 

[Soonerinkc]

Lol. I think Scooter Berry only had the 1 FT at the end as his only point. But it was that painful.

It was Chris Piper that hit those big buckets down the stretch. Him and Milt Newton were the unsung heroes in that game. Larry Brown went to a stall offense the last 10-12 minutes and burned the clock, and it seems like Piper hit two huge buckets as time expired.

Because of stall ball, they held us to 29 points the second half and for a team scored 100 or more 20 times, that killed us.

Yup they knew they couldn’t run with us...

 

[NMSooner'80]

I was 12 years old and I admit I cried. I was devastated.

I was 30 and I had to fight off the tears. I also had to deal with a mostly anti-OU workplace the next day. So I sent a little non-verbal message and kicked a trash can that was by my desk at the office.

You could have heard a pin drop when that thing landed. But it was almost too good of a kick. I cleared a tall table and almost put the trash can into a window.

 

[skyvue]

I can remember my father and I talking before the game, each of us acknowledging what a huge game it was. We agreed that there was no telling when we'd get there again, and sure enough, it's been more than 30 years. Dad passed a couple of years ago, so he never got to see us back in the title game (thankfully, he did get to enjoy our run to the Final Four a few seasons back).

Here's hoping I get to see us back in the title game.

 

[Sooner24]

I was at the 1988 Final Four. I have been an OU fan my entire life and there is not a single game, in any sport, that hurts like that one game. We went to Arthur Bryant's Monday afternoon of the championship game and there were some guys going the the Royals opening day game. They told us they would swap their baseball tickets for our basketball tickets and we just laughed at them. Still have my Dick Vitale PTP shirt he was tossing out at the Crown Center on Sunday afternoon.

 

[hoopsaustin]

I can remember my father and I talking before the game, each of us acknowledging what a huge game it was. We agreed that there was no telling when we'd get there again, and sure enough, it's been more than 30 years. Dad passed a couple of years ago, so he never got to see us back in the title game (thankfully, he did get to enjoy our run to the Final Four a few seasons back).

Here's hoping I get to see us back in the title game.

Love the post. If only it was the reverse and Villanova kicked us in Hawaii and we curbed them in the final four. I wish you and your dad coulda seen that natty win

 

[skyvue]

Love the post. If only it was the reverse and Villanova kicked us in Hawaii and we curbed them in the final four. I wish you and your dad coulda seen that natty win

Thank you. He was an OU grad and a passionate Sooner fan (and as good a father as one could ask for).

And like some members of this board, he had an amazing memory for details from football and basketball games he attended or watched decades earlier. Forty or fifty years later, he could cite all the key plays from some random gridiron win from the early '50s. With rare exception, I have trouble remembering such details and I'm often impressed by the memories of posters on this board.

 

[paboomersooner]

I've posted this on the board a number of times, but I'll never be a completely happy/satisfied OU fan unless OU wins a title in men's hoops. The '88 title game still stings as was said above because OU truly had the best team in the land that year IMO.

Correct me if I'm wrong (and take away the salt in the wound), but didn't the chickenhawks have a football player(s) logging significant minutes due to an injury to a scholarship player(s)? I seem to remember the play-by-play guy, Musberger maybe, referencing this point.

I remember rolling a rocking chair across my living room floor that evening out of anger when the writing of a loss was on the wall. Mom wasn't happy with my display of displeasure.:ez-roll:

 

[WaymanFan]

Several years ago, we would have been a high seed on the "misery index" just because we had a habit of underachieving our seed in the Dance. After the first 20-25 years of the 64+ team format, OU had the 4th worst NCAA tournament record based on seeding. Granted, a lot of it was because Billy and Kelvin did great coaching jobs year-in and year-out to get us those high seeds. Sometimes when that happens, one can be vulnerable in the Dance.

The best example I can provide was the 1990 season when OU finished the pre-tourney #1 - yet did not have a future NBA draft pick on its active roster. They had to play a #8 seed (North Carolina) in the second round which under-performed all year long in spite of a boatload of McDonald's All-Americans and future NBA players.

Anyway, since seeding began, here are the OU results by coach:

Dave Bliss: +1 based on seed; 1-1 record

As a #5 seed, OU beat #4 seed Texas.


Billy Tubbs: -9; 15-9 record

Billy won most of his toss-up games, but suffered several losses as the significantly higher seed.


Kelvin Sampson: -5; 11-11 record

Opposite of Billy - Kelvin won most of his games as a significantly higher seed (except as a #4 seed), but couldn't win the toss-up games in the first two rounds.


Jeff Capel: +0; 4-2 record

Jeff won all four games as the higher seed and lost both as the lower seed.


Lon Kruger: +1; 7-6 record

The book is obviously not closed...so let's hope he get a few more wins.

 

[MJSooner]

Correct me if I'm wrong (and take away the salt in the wound), but didn't the chickenhawks have a football player(s) logging significant minutes due to an injury to a scholarship player(s)? I seem to remember the play-by-play guy, Musberger maybe, referencing this point.

I remember rolling a rocking chair across my living room floor that evening out of anger when the writing of a loss was on the wall. Mom wasn't happy with my display of displeasure.:ez-roll:

Wow, forgot all about that. Yep, you are correct.

I think it was something like Norman (??), maybe Cliff or Clint Norman? He was a G that played defensive back. He came in and hit like 3 shots and was 3-3. I am not sure how many minutes or the contribution he had, as that night it seemed like the 3 shots and 6 or 7 points was a surprise. Archie Marshall was the major injury they had that year. I played with Archie after college. Good dude.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Wow, forgot all about that. Yep, you are correct.

I think it was something like Norman (??), maybe Cliff or Clint Norman? He was a G that played defensive back. He came in and hit like 3 shots and was 3-3. I am not sure how many minutes or the contribution he had, as that night it seemed like the 3 shots and 6 or 7 points was a surprise. Archie Marshall was the major injury they had that year. I played with Archie after college. Good dude.

Clint Normore. Now excuse me as I go beat my head against the wall for the next hour . . .

 

[sheepdogs1]

The overachieving play of several KU role players is what did us in. In that sense, the game was a fluke. Danny Manning was terrific, but he didn't do anything he hadn't done in the losses to us that season. It was the other guys who for one game played over their heads that did us in (and a couple of questionable late calls).

Speaking of Danny Manning, his team at Wake Forrest was bounced out of the ACC tournament in the 1st round and saw on the ESPN crawl that he is expected to return to Wake next year. He has been a disappointment since arriving and should have stayed at TU.