The champions that never were: 1988 Sooners

[OUHoops]

http://theonlyblogthatmatters.com/2...ever-were-1988-oklahoma-sooners-basketball-2/

 

[NMSooner'80]

That was an excellent read - although it brought back painful memories of the "Mistake of '88." I almost cried when that was over, and I was 30 years old at the time.

People always forget that OU wasn't picked to finish in the top 2 in the conference, much less the nation. The other truth of the matter was, KU was supposed to be a national title contender and underachieved most of the season. But that didn't stop them and their homer media from embracing the role of the "lovable underdog" - and we all know that KU always claimed the moral high ground back then anyway.

 

[AdaSooner]

Nice read! Tony has been on a roll with his historical OU blogs lately. I have always liked him and the way he writes.

As NMSooner'80 said, it's impossible for me to think about OU basketball and the 1988 team, without getting sick to my stomach. There is no doubt in my mind that the best team didn't win the NC that year.

 

[152219]

That was an excellent read - although it brought back painful memories of the "Mistake of '88." I almost cried when that was over, and I was 30 years old at the time.

People always forget that OU wasn't picked to finish in the top 2 in the conference, much less the nation. The other truth of the matter was, KU was supposed to be a national title contender and underachieved most of the season. But that didn't stop them and their homer media from embracing the role of the "lovable underdog" - and we all know that KU always claimed the moral high ground back then anyway.

I was 11 years old and am man enough to post that I cried that night....the only time I have cried after an OU loss. I love OU football and hoops equally, but that loss in '88 pains me more than any football loss or the loss to Indiana in the Final Four in '02.

 

[usedtobe1]

I remember late in the game OU was down by 3 and I think it was Ricky Grace (or Dave Seiger?) had a wide-open 3 and took the shot and missed. The announcers just berated him for taking a bad shot .... and I thought it was a good shot.

 

[DenverSooner]

That was an excellent read - although it brought back painful memories of the "Mistake of '88." I almost cried when that was over, and I was 30 years old at the time.

People always forget that OU wasn't picked to finish in the top 2 in the conference, much less the nation. The other truth of the matter was, KU was supposed to be a national title contender and underachieved most of the season. But that didn't stop them and their homer media from embracing the role of the "lovable underdog" - and we all know that KU always claimed the moral high ground back then anyway.

I was at OU (started as a freshman in 1985). I foolishly believed OU would always play for National Championships in football and always be a final four contender back then because OU was so good. I had no clue that I was extremely fortunate to attend OU at that precise time.

 

[WaymanFan]

I remember late in the game OU was down by 3 and I think it was Ricky Grace (or Dave Seiger?) had a wide-open 3 and took the shot and missed. The announcers just berated him for taking a bad shot .... and I thought it was a good shot.

It was Grace...and the shot looked dead on...thought it was going in.

After the game, I stared at my TV for what seemed like hours before I went to bed. I remember thinking that it was probably going to be the only chance in my lifetime that we would play in the title game. To date, I've unfortunately been right. I've also never re-watched that game.

I made another unfortunate prediction that turned out right, and the book is closed on that one. My initial reaction to the loss (and seeing Danny Manning celebrate) was to yell at my TV: "You're going to fall flat on your face in the Olympics because you're not going to get away with the crap you got away with tonight!" Result: Danny Manning spent several minutes on the bench in foul trouble in key games, and the USA team wound up with a bronze medal. There is still a chance my other prediction can come false...but if it doesn't, a lot worse has and will continue to happen in my lifetime.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

I was at OU (started as a freshman in 1985). I foolishly believed OU would always play for National Championships in football and always be a final four contender back then because OU was so good. I had no clue that I was extremely fortunate to attend OU at that precise time.

I know what you mean. After being spoiled by OU's success, we learn to appreciate the "good years" when they return. If they return.

2000-2001-2002-2003 was a pretty nice stretch also.

 

[NMSooner'80]

Back then, I worked in Edmond, in an office with quite a few OU-haters in it (and one female KU grad). The next morning, I went into work with all eyes on me. I hauled off and kicked a trash can by my desk, to send the message that "no one should say a WORD to me about last night...."

But, I executed the kick a little too well (I was once a local Ford Punt Pass & Kick champ as a kid down in Ardmore). The trash can was headed for a window, but luckily it was a plastic one and also missed the window by a couple of inches. I swear, the room was so quiet by the time that trash can hit the ground, you could have heard a pin drop. And no one said a word to me about the "Mistake of '88" game then or ever, in that office.

I also remember hearing stories, since I knew various OKC-area media personalities who were close to OU hoops, that many of those "classy" KU fans followed the team back to their hotel just to taunt them a bit more. That sounds like the Beakers I also observed as an OU student in '79 when I went up for the OU-KU game at the Phog.

It was a "perfect storm" in a way, back in '88 - that OU had to be in the Final Four in OU-hating Kansas City, with the three most goody-two-shoes programs of that era: KU, Duke and Arizona. People might not know how obnoxious Arizona was with its promotion of its alleged moral superiority, but my relatives in Pac-10 country sure knew about it (as well as the folks in New Mexico, who had to put up with Loot and Co. for over 10 years).

 

[tycat947]

Like others have stated, it still is a sickening feeling remembering that game! Agree with everything NMSooner80 says.

 

[DenverSooner]

What was KU's shooting percentage for the game?

It was 75% for the first half.

 

[soonernoon]

just to set the record straight--the Hilton, where OU stayed, was accross the street from I believe it was a Ramada then, where KU stayed. I was at the Hilton and didn't see any KU fans at the hotel. After the game the OU supporters from the hotel stood in the parking lot and watched KU celebrate the victory but I don't remember any exchange other than a few shouts accross the street.
As for games at KU I've attended probably 10-15 there and found the KU fans to be civil if not downright cordial. I was there when we beat KU and the students started chanting to the donors leaving "Don't come back". I believe phog allen is probably the best college venue in america--I did go to the OU game at Duke---but the students were on break.
The worst treatment was always at Texas where even the old people, I was young then, were abrasive and rude.

 

[KCRuf/Nek]

What was KU's shooting percentage for the game?

It was 75% for the first half.

Milt freaking Newton is still sinking baskets.

 

[KCRuf/Nek]

When dad and I left Kemper on Saturday I said something about how we'd just seen the title game. He reminded me that it wasn't over yet and this was OU. Nothing is final until it's over(Too many broken hearts in football). I sat there on Monday night after the game around all those aholes knowing well that I'd be hearing about this for the rest of my life.

2000-2001-2002-2003 was a pretty nice stretch also.

That was nice but nothing compares to the couple of years we had Mookie and just put the hammer down on people. How he played 40 minutes every night is beyond me. I loved the way those clubs played defense and pretty much played all out. I remember the next year when we were playing MU and they said they averaged nine seconds per possession and we averaged seven. It was like watching a pro game.

 

[Darwin]

The Tubbs teams good or better most every year and then the 87/88 season was so incredibly great. If that game was never played, it would be easier to remember how great that season was but instead, pain. Watching Dave Sieger for 5 years getting better bit by bit till he was a starter on that team and then on the biggest stage making 6 3's in the 1st half. There are a lot of winners that lose their last game.

 

[NMSooner'80]

Milt freaking Newton is still sinking baskets.

Mike Bell got a bit of revenge directly on Newton the next year in Lawrence. He threw down a dunk that defined "posterized."

 

[KCRuf/Nek]

Mike Bell got a bit of revenge directly on Newton the next year in Lawrence. He threw down a dunk that defined "posterized."

Well I'm never a big fan of rematch games. If Denver played Seattle and beat them 100-0 it still wouldn't change the game that mattered. I hated Milt Newton.

 

[NMSooner'80]

Well I'm never a big fan of rematch games. If Denver played Seattle and beat them 100-0 it still wouldn't change the game that mattered. I hated Milt Newton.

Agree 100%. It didn't matter in the end, but it was a nice moment when Bell posterized Newton.

Another big reason why I hated that game in '88 so much is that some of those guys played so far over their heads, it was ridiculous. I've always believed that they couldn't have beaten Duke, much less OU, had the game been played at a truly neutral site.

 

[steverocks35]

Agree 100%. It didn't matter in the end, but it was a nice moment when Bell posterized Newton.

Another big reason why I hated that game in '88 so much is that some of those guys played so far over their heads, it was ridiculous. I've always believed that they couldn't have beaten Duke, much less OU, had the game been played at a truly neutral site.

Exactly, I mean Scooter freaking Berry?

 

[NMSooner'80]

Exactly, I mean Scooter freaking Berry?

Don't forget Clint Normore, the football player who probably couldn't have scored in double figures with most of us guarding him, on a normal night.