Tramel Blog: Capel Supporters Seem Few

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http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2010/04/15/ou-basketball-capel-supporters-seem-few/

I hammered OU basketball coach Jeff Capel pretty good earlier this week, and I was very surprised at the response of readers. It was almost universal support for what I wrote.

That’s relatively unheard of. In the dark days of Sooner football, some zealots supported John Blake and even Howard Schnellenberger almost to the bitter end. Some hoop fans supported Kelvin Sampson even after the NCAA violations.

But support for Capel seems minimal. I got one email — I’ll share it in my weekend mail bag — accusing me of “piling on,” and a couple of radio sportstalk hosts, James Hale and my partner Al Eschbach, weren’t crazy about the column. But otherwise, seems like I struck a chord.

Wednesday night at the Thunder-Memphis game, more people (some I know, some I don’t) came up to me to talk about the Capel column than to talk about the impending Laker-OKC series.

In some ways, that’s good news for Sooner basketball. Who knew anyone cared enough anymore to get riled up? Just goes to show you that the fan base, while turned off and maybe even dormant, hasn’t lost its interest.

Some OU insiders have suggested that Capel is being quiet on the advice (demand?) of attorneys, pending the NCAA investigation of Tiny Gallon. I have no doubt that’s true. And I can understand Capel not talking about the alleged payments from some Florida scumbag to Gallon.

But there is no legal reason for Capel to keep mum about who is point guard is going to be. The Sooners have five players on scholarship right now; one of them is Gallon, who might not be eligible and wants to bolt anyway, as he admitted on Twitter.

You’ve basically got four ballplayers — Cade Davis, Kyle Hardrick, Steven Pledger and Andrew Fitzgerald — and two of them were suspended for shoplifting a couple of months ago. That’s not much of a basketball team.

Fans deserve to know how this program crumbled so quickly and what Capel plans to do about it. Any advice to go into a total shell serves only to make Capel look worse and eat into his credibility with fans. Those fans apparently still care, to some degree. Better to incur their wrath than to run them off completely.
 
From Tiny's Twitter yesterday:

"Man... im ready 2 get drafted NOW.. BUT i MIGHT do ONE more year..."

The really weird thing is that he didn't create the Twitter until 2 weeks AFTER the TMZ allegations came out.
 
If Tramel wasn't so busy patting himself on the back he might have time to head to Norman and actually do some investigation and find out what is going on. That would be a story people would like to read.
 
From Tiny's Twitter yesterday:

"Man... im ready 2 get drafted NOW.. BUT i MIGHT do ONE more year..."

The really weird thing is that he didn't create the Twitter until 2 weeks AFTER the TMZ allegations came out.
Capel seriously needs to ban players from using twitter or at least moderate their twitters/facebook pages seriously. That's added a lot of fuel to the fire that has become this offseason.
 
From Tiny's Twitter yesterday:

"Man... im ready 2 get drafted NOW.. BUT i MIGHT do ONE more year..."

The really weird thing is that he didn't create the Twitter until 2 weeks AFTER the TMZ allegations came out.

I see tweets from him in 2009.
 
Unfortunately this just shows that too many people in Oklahoma right now have a negative attitude and are looking to throw people under the bus at the first sign of adversity.

It's a shame really.
 
Unfortunately this just shows that too many people in Oklahoma right now have a negative attitude and are looking to throw people under the bus at the first sign of adversity.

It's a shame really.

I disagree. Adversity is what the football team went through this year with all the devastating injuries. These wounds are self-inflicted and that's why people are upset. Hopefully Capel will stand up after this is all cleared up and take responsibility and be contrite, which I think he will but is on a gag order from OU. People are forgiving but you have to be straight forward and honest. If Capel would just say we're going through some stuff right now, but Ihe's committed to cleaning it up, I think people would feel much better right now. The silence is disconcerting.
 
I am glad that Jeff is getting an opportunity to fix what is wrong with the program; however, I agree with the article that saying nothing about anything is just adding fuel to the fire of otherwise good solid fans. I mean seriously, the only thing we have heard lately is "gangspeak" on twitter from a player who said he was staying but also may have committed NCAA violations. It is perplexing to say the least.
 
I am glad that Jeff is getting an opportunity to fix what is wrong with the program; however, I agree with the article that saying nothing about anything is just adding fuel to the fire of otherwise good solid fans. I mean seriously, the only thing we have heard lately is "gangspeak" on twitter from a player who said he was staying but also may have committed NCAA violations. It is perplexing to say the least.

Yeah this one is certainly not on the fans. I can't blame anyone that is extremely down on this program right now. I just can't.

I actually feel much better about things than I did a week ago. Next year's team will play the game the right way and be a team. Even if we finish with a similar record, then it will still be much better to watch and cheer for next year's team.
 
Even if we finish with a similar record, then it will still be much better to watch and cheer for next year's team.

My sentiments exactly.

I can stomach a 13-18 team if we're playing hard, learning, and getting better overall. This group was generally playing soft, making the same mistakes game after game, and getting worse as the season progressed.

I look forward to next season as a fresh start.
 
If Tramel wasn't so busy patting himself on the back he might have time to head to Norman and actually do some investigation and find out what is going on. That would be a story people would like to read.

Yes, but that would require a little work on Tramel's part. It's easier to read message boards, and then use your own words to summarize what others have said.

There is one thing I agree with, though. Capel's instructions to keep quiet about the Gallon incident, can't possibly have anything to do with the current state of the program or the prospects of filling the scholarships OU has open right now. I realize he can't mention recruits by name. But the least he could do is give fans something to restore their faith in the program and in the possibility of putting a decent team on the floor next season.
 
I highly doubt Tramel reads message boards. Other journalists certainly do, and there is nothing wrong with that, but I would be genuinely surprised if Berry Tramel does.
 
A losing record should never be acceptable. When was the last time OU had back to back losing records?

I see improvement as being in the NIT or NCAA tournament, not another 13-18 record with OU "playing hard." Maybe I am too harsh or expect too much from OU basketball but if OU has another losing record it will not be enjoyable to watch.
 
Wow BT! Don't break the ole arm(s) patting yourself on the back. Your aim should be to get to the truth and do some investigating. However, you are too damn concerned about being right rather than doing right.

What are you gonna say when Jeff signs some good players? Do you even know who he is recruiting? My sixteen year old daughter who is following the saga could've written the column you did and she is over one thousand miles from campus.
 
No Tramel, what it shows is people are talking about it on message boards.
 
Yeah this one is certainly not on the fans. I can't blame anyone that is extremely down on this program right now. I just can't.

I actually feel much better about things than I did a week ago. Next year's team will play the game the right way and be a team. Even if we finish with a similar record, then it will still be much better to watch and cheer for next year's team.

I am a glass half-full type. However, I am seriously concerned that we will not be able to field a team. I have no expectation that we will exceed this year's record. I have no evidence that they will, but I am very concerned that our incoming players will reconsider their committments. Since you are feeling better, can you spread the wealth a bit?
 
Just reading Gallon's "tweets" makes me sick to my stomach. Let's just get rid of this guy NOW. It's the same @#$% that @#$#$#$ up this past season. I'd rather play with 4 guys than with him if his attitude is where it is. After ALL that's happened to him since the end of the season....and after all the trouble he's caused the University...he hasn't learned a @#$# thing.

Bury the dead and keep on moving.
 
Just reading Gallon's "tweets" makes me sick to my stomach. Let's just get rid of this guy NOW. It's the same @#$% that @#$#$#$ up this past season. I'd rather play with 4 guys than with him if his attitude is where it is. After ALL that's happened to him since the end of the season....and after all the trouble he's caused the University...he hasn't learned a @#$# thing.

Bury the dead and keep on moving.

I think Jeff needs to get control of the teams twitter account. I wouldn't mind him not allowing players to have twitter like other coaches do. But at the very least he needs to make sure and monitor their twitters. It's bad for the program image to have them say some of the things they do on twitter.
 
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