Dave4OU
Member
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2008
- Messages
- 403
- Reaction score
- 0
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...rticleid=20100205_92_B1_NORMAN280592&allcom=1
Tisdale to be honored Saturday
by: GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
Friday, February 05, 2010
2/5/2010 6:34:00 AM
NORMAN — About the only thing Wayman Tisdale didn't do at Oklahoma was beat Texas. Fact is, he never played Texas.
He settled for UT-San Antonio, Southwestern Texas and Abilene Christian and destroyed them for 61, 55 and 51 points, his three highest totals, and three of the four highest in Sooner history.
Too bad the Longhorns weren't on OU's schedule from 1982-85. They were awful back then, not even worth a win in the Southwest Conference tournament, much less the NCAAs. Another half-a-hundred would have been possible.
If that time has come and gone, perhaps Saturday provides something of a second chance. Perhaps Tisdale's spirit can help beat Texas in Saturday's 3 p.m. Red River renewal.
The Sooners have honored Tisdale's passing all season by wearing a patch on their jerseys. On Saturday, 2,000 fans will receive that patch. Everyone at the Lloyd Noble Center will hear the pregame concert put on by members of Tisdale's jazz band, and watch Toby Keith sing "Cryin' for Me (Wayman's Song)" at halftime. Everyone will watch in-game tributes by former teammates and coaches. Everyone will recognize Tisdale family members who will be there.
Everyone should be moved, and that includes players on this year's beleaguered OU team.
"It makes us want to get this game even more so," guard Willie Warren said. "For the fans, and for Wayman and his family."
"I would hope that everybody would use (the game) to honor Wayman in a way that's respectful," guard Cade Davis said. "Play hard and keep our heads up."
That is something this season's Sooners have struggled to do consistently. They didn't play hard or keep their heads up during a 91-60 loss at Baylor on Jan. 9.
The next day, coach Jeff Capel showed them a video to prove a point. A video of Tisdale.
"It was about having pride in what you represent," Capel said.
"It talked about his career, and then what he went through after his basketball career, with his musical career," senior Ryan Wright said. "I think a lot of the younger guys didn't know that much about him. Now they do."
Said freshman Tommy Mason-Griffin, born five years after Tisdale finished his OU career: "He seemed like a good person, with a good heart, on and off the court."
Tisdale was every bit that, whether playing basketball, playing jazz bass or playing with his children and grandchildren. This season's Sooners have become aware of that, and of something else that they would be advised to put to use.
"In the video we saw him going through his situation with his (cancerous) leg, and he just always had a smile on his face," Warren said. "You couldn't tell he was going through major problems, because he was a fun person to be around. He was always smiling."
"His resolve and his dedication to OU is inspirational," Wright said. "You take a guy like that, who has to have his leg removed, and when he got his artificial leg, he wanted OU to be on it. That just showed where his heart was.
"It was very helpful for us to know the kind of pride former players have in this program, and what we're playing for. What the name on our chest is, what it means."
If the video didn't make that clear, Tisdale's personal appearance in the Sooners' film room one day last year did.
"He talked about how much he loved to play here, how much passion he has for the university," Davis recalled. "Hopefully that would kind of carry over and we'd feel the same way. That we'd play and exemplify the way it's supposed to be played and how we're supposed to represent the University of Oklahoma.
"He's a huge inspiration to anybody that comes here, not just for sports. He's a part of this school."
He is the biggest part of the school's basketball program. He is, in Capel's words, "the reason why all of us are here. He's the guy that made Oklahoma basketball."
The fans inside Lloyd Noble on Saturday will pay tribute accordingly. The players sound like they'd like to follow suit.
"Every time you honor somebody like that, a legend, it's going to be encouraging," senior Tony Crocker said. "We're going to try and get a win. Because we're not just playing for ourselves, but all the players that were here before us."
Toby Keith to take part in ceremony
Country star Toby Keith will participate in OU’s celebration of Wayman Tisdale on Saturday by performing at halftime of the Sooners’ 3 p.m. men’s basketball game against ninth-ranked Texas.
Keith will perform “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)” with saxophonist Tom Braxton and other members of Tisdale’s former jazz band. The song was written in memory of Tisdale, OU’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, and a successful contemporary jazz bassist, who died last May from cancer at 44.
Keith and Tisdale were friends before Tisdale’s death, and Keith appeared on Tisdale’s final album, “Rebound,” in 2008. Guerin Emig 581-8355
guerin.emig@tulsaworld.com
Tisdale to be honored Saturday
by: GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
Friday, February 05, 2010
2/5/2010 6:34:00 AM
NORMAN — About the only thing Wayman Tisdale didn't do at Oklahoma was beat Texas. Fact is, he never played Texas.
He settled for UT-San Antonio, Southwestern Texas and Abilene Christian and destroyed them for 61, 55 and 51 points, his three highest totals, and three of the four highest in Sooner history.
Too bad the Longhorns weren't on OU's schedule from 1982-85. They were awful back then, not even worth a win in the Southwest Conference tournament, much less the NCAAs. Another half-a-hundred would have been possible.
If that time has come and gone, perhaps Saturday provides something of a second chance. Perhaps Tisdale's spirit can help beat Texas in Saturday's 3 p.m. Red River renewal.
The Sooners have honored Tisdale's passing all season by wearing a patch on their jerseys. On Saturday, 2,000 fans will receive that patch. Everyone at the Lloyd Noble Center will hear the pregame concert put on by members of Tisdale's jazz band, and watch Toby Keith sing "Cryin' for Me (Wayman's Song)" at halftime. Everyone will watch in-game tributes by former teammates and coaches. Everyone will recognize Tisdale family members who will be there.
Everyone should be moved, and that includes players on this year's beleaguered OU team.
"It makes us want to get this game even more so," guard Willie Warren said. "For the fans, and for Wayman and his family."
"I would hope that everybody would use (the game) to honor Wayman in a way that's respectful," guard Cade Davis said. "Play hard and keep our heads up."
That is something this season's Sooners have struggled to do consistently. They didn't play hard or keep their heads up during a 91-60 loss at Baylor on Jan. 9.
The next day, coach Jeff Capel showed them a video to prove a point. A video of Tisdale.
"It was about having pride in what you represent," Capel said.
"It talked about his career, and then what he went through after his basketball career, with his musical career," senior Ryan Wright said. "I think a lot of the younger guys didn't know that much about him. Now they do."
Said freshman Tommy Mason-Griffin, born five years after Tisdale finished his OU career: "He seemed like a good person, with a good heart, on and off the court."
Tisdale was every bit that, whether playing basketball, playing jazz bass or playing with his children and grandchildren. This season's Sooners have become aware of that, and of something else that they would be advised to put to use.
"In the video we saw him going through his situation with his (cancerous) leg, and he just always had a smile on his face," Warren said. "You couldn't tell he was going through major problems, because he was a fun person to be around. He was always smiling."
"His resolve and his dedication to OU is inspirational," Wright said. "You take a guy like that, who has to have his leg removed, and when he got his artificial leg, he wanted OU to be on it. That just showed where his heart was.
"It was very helpful for us to know the kind of pride former players have in this program, and what we're playing for. What the name on our chest is, what it means."
If the video didn't make that clear, Tisdale's personal appearance in the Sooners' film room one day last year did.
"He talked about how much he loved to play here, how much passion he has for the university," Davis recalled. "Hopefully that would kind of carry over and we'd feel the same way. That we'd play and exemplify the way it's supposed to be played and how we're supposed to represent the University of Oklahoma.
"He's a huge inspiration to anybody that comes here, not just for sports. He's a part of this school."
He is the biggest part of the school's basketball program. He is, in Capel's words, "the reason why all of us are here. He's the guy that made Oklahoma basketball."
The fans inside Lloyd Noble on Saturday will pay tribute accordingly. The players sound like they'd like to follow suit.
"Every time you honor somebody like that, a legend, it's going to be encouraging," senior Tony Crocker said. "We're going to try and get a win. Because we're not just playing for ourselves, but all the players that were here before us."
Toby Keith to take part in ceremony
Country star Toby Keith will participate in OU’s celebration of Wayman Tisdale on Saturday by performing at halftime of the Sooners’ 3 p.m. men’s basketball game against ninth-ranked Texas.
Keith will perform “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)” with saxophonist Tom Braxton and other members of Tisdale’s former jazz band. The song was written in memory of Tisdale, OU’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, and a successful contemporary jazz bassist, who died last May from cancer at 44.
Keith and Tisdale were friends before Tisdale’s death, and Keith appeared on Tisdale’s final album, “Rebound,” in 2008. Guerin Emig 581-8355
guerin.emig@tulsaworld.com
