My guess is that there have been literally hundreds of OU athletes over the past century who, if asked (or allowed) to post their random thoughts for all to see (had there been an Internet, or its equivalent, at the time), would have given us an unpleasant surprise with their lack of facility with grammar and spelling, their limited depth of insight, etc.
There are and have been many intelligent, erudite Sooner athletes, of course, but as a group, athletes are not the most articulate, book-smart bunch. It's not their primary focus, generally, and we, the sports-loving public, ask of them that it not be. There are only 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week, after all, and we need them working on their athletic skills, dang it!
Throw in the use of contemporary slang and quirky spellings that elude, if not downright confuse, those of us who are not the same age as these young athletes (and don't kid yourself -- it has ever been thus), and you've got the basis for a whole lot of harrumphing going on.
But we can rest assured our elders wouldn't have much liked the tweets and FB posts of the athletes of the 1960s, 1940s, or even the 1920s, either, had the outlet been there for that type of self-expression.
23 skidoo, and all that.
Joe Washington (just to name one, and mind you, he's my favorite Sooner athlete of all time) was not what one would call smooth-talking in college, and I can attest, based on the autograph he gave me back in the day, that he wasn't the best speller, either. But he has turned out to be an accomplished and articulate adult who continues to make the university proud on a daily basis. So there's no telling where the athletes who stick around at OU (I've washed my hands of TMG, personally) will accomplish and how they will make us proud, both with their on-court/field accomplishments and after their playing careers are over.
