Kelvin brought back some fond memories for me yesterday

[AdaSooner]

Say what you will about Kelvin Sampson, the guy likes to win. I'm over being upset with him now and wish him nothing but the best. He paid for his mistakes, and likely continues to pay, because he is far better suited to coach college hoops as he'll ever be to coach at the NBA level.

But, make no mistake about it, Kelvin wanted his team to win yesterday. The excitement he showed when Nate Erdmann, the player he brought with him from Washington State when he took the OU job, proved it. He jumped high into the air, fist raised, with a big smile on his face, and let out a yell that could easily be heard over the noise of the crowd. He was genuinely pleased with the Cream team's victory!

I also think Kelvin was sincere when he expressed his gratitude to Coach Kruger and OU for inviting him back and asking him to coach a Legends team. I'm well satisfied with the coach OU hired to lead us back into the national spotlight, and I have no doubt that LK will get us there in the not too distant future. Yet, as I watched Kelvin on the bench yesterday, I couldn't help but reminisce about the good ol' days when the Sooners were competing for conference and national titles, and almost always ranked in the nation's top twenty five. I'm glad Kelvin was there!

 

[Cleavon Little]

I agree 100% with everything you wrote.

 

[j2d2]

I also agree. Kelvin is a great example of what can be done with mostly second rate talent playing first rate defense. I always thought we had a chance in games and knew that we had the other teams respect win or lose.

 

[Escape Goat]

I also agree. Kelvin is a great example of what can be done with mostly second rate talent playing first rate defense. I always thought we had a chance in games and knew that we had the other teams respect win or lose.

Totally agree! And he even threw out a classic Sampson line after the game and on newsok. When asked if these guys were in shape. He answered, "Yeah, they're in all kinds of shapes". Ha! He's my favorite coach!

 

[BigTime]

He's my favorite OU basketball. I'm so glad that the wounds have healed in many Sooner fans' minds. It will get even better with time imo.

 

[NickZepp]

We were lucky to have back to back coaches that were so good in Kelvin and Billy. We can't take that for granted anymore. I hope Lon does a good job and leaves the university in good shape for the next guy. But what Billy and Kelvin did for us as a basketball tradition is hard to match.

 

[WTSooner]

But what Billy and Kelvin did for us as a basketball tradition is hard to match.

:clap

 

[MsProudSooner]

Totally agree! And he even threw out a classic Sampson line after the game and on newsok. When asked if these guys were in shape. He answered, "Yeah, they're in all kinds of shapes". Ha! He's my favorite coach!

Early in the game, when Hollis was raining 3's like layups, he motioned to Hollis to hold it down. Hollis just laughed. I loved it when he couldn't resist trying to ice Brent Price with the time outs.

Watching the warmups, I doubted whether the 2 teams would score 50 combined during the game. But once the game started, they were scoring with more regularity. People were actually playing defense in the last 2 minutes and the overtime.

 

[BigTime]

Early in the game, when Hollis was raining 3's like layups, he motioned to Hollis to hold it down. Hollis just laughed. I loved it when he couldn't resist trying to ice Brent Price with the time outs.

Watching the warmups, I doubted whether the 2 teams would score 50 combined during the game. But once the game started, they were scoring with more regularity. People were actually playing defense in the last 2 minutes and the overtime.

That was some INTENSE D by the white team when the red team was trying to free up Hollis via a double screen. Made me smile watching those guys compete.

 

[Sooner04]

I couldn't tell when Kelvin celebrated more. When Erdmann hit the lay-up, or when Price missed the free throw after Sampson iced him. Cracked me up!

 

[tycat947]

Say what you will about Kelvin Sampson, the guy likes to win. I'm over being upset with him now and wish him nothing but the best. He paid for his mistakes, and likely continues to pay, because he is far better suited to coach college hoops as he'll ever be to coach at the NBA level.

But, make no mistake about it, Kelvin wanted his team to win yesterday. The excitement he showed when Nate Erdmann, the player he brought with him from Washington State when he took the OU job, proved it. He jumped high into the air, fist raised, with a big smile on his face, and let out a yell that could easily be heard over the noise of the crowd. He was genuinely pleased with the Cream team's victory!

I also think Kelvin was sincere when he expressed his gratitude to Coach Kruger and OU for inviting him back and asking him to coach a Legends team. I'm well satisfied with the coach OU hired to lead us back into the national spotlight, and I have no doubt that LK will get us there in the not too distant future. Yet, as I watched Kelvin on the bench yesterday, I couldn't help but reminisce about the good ol' days when the Sooners were competing for conference and national titles, and almost always ranked in the nation's top twenty five. I'm glad Kelvin was there!

I totally agree!

I'm also glad that Bliss was there even though I'm not sure I would have thought that a few years ago. He did nothing wrong during his time in Norman and did a great job with the basketball program. He made some serious mistakes afterwards, especially in Waco, but I think he's paying for those mistakes (and probably always will) but it sounds like he's accepted responsibility for those mistakes and is trying to get his life back on the right track IMO.

 

[WaymanFan]

Thanks for sharing, Ada! Great stuff. I think we all miss the competitive fire of Kelvin.

I may be in the minority, but I agree with Tycat in that I'm glad Dave Bliss was invited back. It's not like he's getting away with anything he did. He's a beaten man...and don't see a reason to keep kicking him.

 

[skyvue]

I may be in the minority, but I agree with Tycat in that I'm glad Dave Bliss was invited back. It's not like he's getting away with anything he did. He's a beaten man...and don't see a reason to keep kicking him.

Who's advocated kicking him? Deciding behind closed doors not to invite him wouldn't have reflected badly on Bliss. No one would have given it a thought.

Sorry, but his misdeeds were beyond the pale. He certainly has the right to live in his life in peace, but that doesn't mean OU should honor him by inviting him back and putting him back in the spotlight. At what point does one draw the line?

 

[NickZepp]

Yeah I feel kinda dirty that he was involved. I guess Capel wasn't available, but Bliss tried to cover up a murder! I'm not sure if he should be involved with coaching in anyway anywhere. Was someone like John MacLeod not available?

 

[tycat947]

Sorry, but his misdeeds were beyond the pale. He certainly has the right to live in his life in peace, but that doesn't mean OU should honor him by inviting him back and putting him back in the spotlight. At what point does one draw the line?

You're right that there were serious misdeeds. But none of those misdeeds occurred during his time in Norman. Kruger made the choice to not only invite him but allow him to coach one of the squads. Players that played for him in Norman still attended and played on his team. To my knowledge, no one alum boycotted playing on his team.

I'm sure it was a highly discussed subject between the basketball staff and athletic department staff and they decided as they did. In my opinion, it was the right thing to do but I totally understand the opposing views and everyone is entitled to an opinion. I would have understood had they decided not to invite him but I'm glad they did. Him accepting responsibility for his wrongs I'm sure was key to them issuing an invitation.

 

[stoops4pres]

Yeah I feel kinda dirty that he was involved. I guess Capel wasn't available, but Bliss tried to cover up a murder! I'm not sure if he should be involved with coaching in anyway anywhere. Was someone like John MacLeod not available?

Agreed, Bliss coaching was my only gripe that weekend. He shouldn't have been there.

 

[MsProudSooner]

I'm sure that if Billy hadn't had to go back to Lamar, he could have been coaching the Red team. Go-Go Stevens might not have enough get-up-and-go left to get out of the way of flying players, so they let Bliss do it.