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2022 Texas Softball - Locked and Loaded


Js1

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2 minutes ago, Js1 said:

We played scared of the moment and scared of the opponent 

I've never really understood playing scared in a non combat/contact sport. I mean all of these players know each other and played against each other their entire lives thru travel ball and now at college. What the hell is there to be scared of?

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32 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

Ok, so I am mostly disappointed by the Horns total lack of fight. This was the team I saw in Clearwater. Several times, we had kids swinging freely immediately after a walk was issued. We played defense like the softball was a hand grenade, our pitchers couldn't hit their spots, and our hitters couldn't hit their asses with both hands. It was embarrassing to watch, so I can't imaging how it felt for the players on the field. Unfortunately, only one of those groups can do anything about it. We will see tonight if they have any fight left in them or if they are just happy to be there.

Watching UT last night reminded me of watching OU play USC in the 2004 Orange Bowl. Both the UT softball team this year and that OU football team were excellent and had shown resiliency throughout the year. Neither of those team showed any that night on the biggest stage. The build up to these games is so big that emotional deflation by early adversity appears devastating, unrecoverable.

I didn't like UT's attitude coming into the game. UT was asking "Why not us?" while they should've been coached to visualize "IT IS US." Another prescription would include visualization for persistence despite early adversity because OU's so good at getting ahead early.

A lot went right for the OU yesterday, and there may have been nothing stopping them. It'll be interesting to see if UT's coaches can prevent last night's loss from costing the Horns tonight's game also.

Edited by quigley
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11 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Lol at people discussing intangible BS such as “fight” or “toughness.”

 

 

first time seeing ou play all year, i suspect?

I have watched just about every televised game this season, and every inning of the post season regardless of teams. I attend as many games as possible in person, including the entire St. Pete/Clearwater invitational, and I coached at the highest level of travel ball for 14 years. If you think those intangibles are BS, I would suggest that maybe you are the one who hasn't watched many games, or maybe you never played sports. Texas played soft and uninterested last night, regardless of opponent. They played with a lack of intensity, and couldn't make routine plays. If you think Alyssa Washington's and Mia Scott's inability to catch a thrown ball  are a direct reflection of OU's greatness, then I don't know what to tell you. Same could be said for JJ Smith swinging wildly at first pitches following a walk. OU's team is loaded, and maybe the best offensive team of all time,  but history this season shows that they are not 15 runs better than this Horns team. 

 

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4 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

I have watched just about every televised game this season, and every inning of the post season regardless of teams. I attend as many games as possible in person, including the entire St. Pete/Clearwater invitational, and I coached at the highest level of travel ball for 14 years. If you think those intangibles are BS, I would suggest that maybe you are the one who hasn't watched many games, or maybe you never played sports. Texas played soft and uninterested last night, regardless of opponent. They played with a lack of intensity, and couldn't make routine plays. If you think Alyssa Washington's and Mia Scott's inability to catch a thrown ball  are a direct reflection of OU's greatness, then I don't know what to tell you. Same could be said for JJ Smith swinging wildly at first pitches following a walk. OU's team is loaded, and maybe the best offensive team of all time,  but history this season shows that they are not 15 runs better than this Horns team. 

 

Disagree. This is the best college softball team ever. They are absolutely 15 runs better than the Horns. Attitude and grit isnt gonna make much of a difference against ou. 
 

they run ruled like 15 of their first 20 opponents this year for fucksake

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L 0-3

L 1-9

W 4-2

L 2-7

L 1-16

 

That's 5 games against OU this year for us. In our previous four games, they had outscored us by 17 runs total. I don't give a shit who they run ruled the first 20 games of the season. By your reasoning, Texas should have taken the 2nd place trophy after beating OSU and moved on with their summer.

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33 minutes ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

These ladies were on a two day high after beating OSU, even more attention, additional interviews, pats on the back, and seems like they forgot to tune in.  Hope last nights fiasco slapped some reality into them….TBD.

Mostly this, IMO. 

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@FloridaHorn

Not to jump into the offseason already, but I saw Rachel Cid from Oregon is in the portal.  I believe she's one of the last MW kids on the roster that he recruited.  Coincidentally, Makenna Klithermes is also in the portal as a potential option for Texas to look at. RHP who was a MW recruit to UO. 

Rachel Cid is a 98.8% fielder.  Could she come in for a year and allow Mia Scott to shift to 2B and put some stronger defense at the hot corner?  Or come in and play 2B for a year while the freshman acclimate? 

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9 minutes ago, Js1 said:

@FloridaHorn

Not to jump into the offseason already, but I saw Rachel Cid from Oregon is in the portal.  I believe she's one of the last MW kids on the roster that he recruited.  Coincidentally, Makenna Klithermes is also in the portal as a potential option for Texas to look at. RHP who was a MW recruit to UO. 

Rachel Cid is a 98.8% fielder.  Could she come in for a year and allow Mia Scott to shift to 2B and put some stronger defense at the hot corner?  Or come in and play 2B for a year while the freshman acclimate? 

I like Mia at 3B, because of her athletic ability guarding against the short game. However, Rachel Cid is a good player and could certainly plug in defensively somewhere on this infield. IMHO, Texas needs to be portal hunting for two things, a legitimate front line pitcher (which are hard to find), and a power bat. That bat can play corner OF or corner IF. We have lots of speed coming back, and while I love the short game, the fact is, you have to be able to score runs in bunches these days. Storako is still my #1 pitching choice, however I am told things are not trending well there. She is playing the NIL game, so maybe there is hope for us if money can be found. Teams just leaving the WCWS are now conducting exit interviews, so new names may be entering the portal shortly.

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I just heard from a reliable source that 3 Florida players are in the portal, and more may be joining soon. My guess is OSU and UCLA will meet with their team this week also, so we could see some movement on those rosters also. I am keeping my eyes on a few of these OU girls also, especially Grace Green. McKenzie Donahue the LF from last years OU team is in the portal already as well.

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I wish the media would have dug a little deeper on trautwein’s choice. It’s odd to say she grew up near here, was a fan, and her parents are both alums, and Texas went after her hard in the portal, but just write that all off by saying Texas didn’t recruit her out of high school.

I doubt ou did either. If she just wanted the best chance to win a NC, let’s get there and say that. If there’s something else, why not say that or at least ask her?

was mike supposed to have recruited her to Texas?  To Oregon?

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5 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I wish the media would have dug a little deeper on trautwein’s choice. It’s odd to say she grew up near here, was a fan, and her parents are both alums, and Texas went after her hard in the portal, but just write that all off by saying Texas didn’t recruit her out of high school.

I doubt ou did either. If she just wanted the best chance to win a NC, let’s get there and say that. If there’s something else, why not say that or at least ask her?

was mike supposed to have recruited her to Texas?  To Oregon?

Yeah, I agree.  Did either school want her initially out of HS or only after she was successful at UNT?  Do I think Clark possibly bungled that recruitment a little? Probably, especially if she wasn't as highly rated as some of our other pitching recruits, but damn, she trained with Luna, should have been a shoo-in. 

I know there was an article by Bohls in the AAS, but I don't have a paid subscription to that rag.  Apparently she was 90% leaning towards us in the offseason transfer race and Gasso swooped in and stole her.  (TBH, I don't blame her; with OU, you had a pretty damn good chance of grabbing a title if you spent a year there) 

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12 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

I just heard from a reliable source that 3 Florida players are in the portal, and more may be joining soon. My guess is OSU and UCLA will meet with their team this week also, so we could see some movement on those rosters also. I am keeping my eyes on a few of these OU girls also, especially Grace Green. McKenzie Donahue the LF from last years OU team is in the portal already as well.

No inside knowledge, but you've gotta think Nicole May would be ready to leave too. She'd be a number #1 pitcher at most places and would be a great #2 everywhere (as proven this year). At OU, she'll be #3 again next year most likely.

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Just now, FloridaHorn said:

OU is the softball recruiting equivalent to Alabama football. All bets are off the table once that offer comes in. Almost a guaranteed shot at OKC and a NC if you go there.

Yep. And Rocha has the resume to further develop pitchers. I can’t blame them 

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2 minutes ago, quigley said:

No inside knowledge, but you've gotta think Nicole May would be ready to leave too. She'd be a number #1 pitcher at most places and would be a great #2 everywhere (as proven this year). At OU, she'll be #3 again next year most likely.

If May enters the portal, Patty will immediately grab Storako from Michigan. Hell, she is trying to get her anyway. As they say, the rich get richer.

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18 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

I just heard from a reliable source that 3 Florida players are in the portal, and more may be joining soon. My guess is OSU and UCLA will meet with their team this week also, so we could see some movement on those rosters also. I am keeping my eyes on a few of these OU girls also, especially Grace Green. McKenzie Donahue the LF from last years OU team is in the portal already as well.

Eventually, there'll be someone who transfers from OU to UT or vice versa in a sport people care about.

Donahue may fit the profile. Oklahoma kid who succeeded at OU, appears to have gotten sideways with the coaches, and wants to do something different.

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2 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

If May enters the portal, Patty will immediately grab Storako from Michigan. Hell, she is trying to get her anyway. As they say, the rich get richer.

I think Storako would be the plan regardless of May.

I'm assuming Gasso will want a one year rental for #1A or #2 pitcher. Bahl would be #1 as she was this year but may have lingering injury issues. They also apparently have another hotshot high schooler coming in, but of course, you can't count on that person to come in be ready like Bahl.

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This OU bunch sort of reminds me of our 2005 football team. They can go through the motions and still win nearly every game on superior talent. Losing to that kind of machine is hardly a disgrace, but you do want to give your best shot. I hope for a stronger and more focused effort tonight. 

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Just now, Gut Wagon said:

This OU bunch sort of reminds me of our 2005 football team. They can go through the motions and still win nearly every game on superior talent. Losing to that kind of machine is hardly a disgrace, but you do want to give your best shot. I hope for a stronger and more focused effort tonight. 

Last night did feel like the 2005 Big 12 CCG in football. We played the role of the Colorado Buffalos 

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1 minute ago, perfectchaos007 said:

Last night did feel like the 2005 Big 12 CCG in football. We played the role of the Colorado Buffalos 

Purely out of respect for our ladies' major accomplishment in getting to the title series, I refrained from making that comparison. We're better at softball than that Buffs team was at football. 

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21 minutes ago, chemHORN said:

Also every time OU plays for a National Championship, its basically a home game.  Pretty easy to use that in recruiting.  

We almost had an all Oklahoma final. ( OU v OKST in OKC)

There’s certainly a recruiting advantage for those schools when coaches can tell recruits the championship is ALWAYS played in their back yard 

 

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23 minutes ago, chemHORN said:

Also every time OU plays for a National Championship, its basically a home game.  Pretty easy to use that in recruiting.  

It is what it is, at this point.  OK State could also use it as a recruiting tool.  Still takes the right coach to get the right players there.  

The WCWS has been played in OKC since 1990 (except for 1996).  So what, 31 years?

OK State only appeared 8 times, and had a gap from 1998 to 2011 and then until 2019. 
OU didn't make its first appearance in the NCAA WCWS until 2000.  It took Patty Gasso to get them there.

The right coach still has to be able to take advantage of the location.  Ask Nebraska how that is working for baseball.  Since 1950, Nebraska has been 3 times. 

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And Nebraska never will play in Omaha again having voluntarily exiled themselves to what is a mid-major conference in baseball.

I couldn't tell you one player or remember one game they have had since 2010 and I follow that sport pretty closely. 

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And no offense to OU, but programs rise and programs fall.  It may not be like this forever.   Texas A&M, Fresno State, Auburn, FSU, ULL, Virginia Tech, Baylor.  Programs who came out of nowhere, made some noise, and faded.  Or big name programs who had some droughts, like Arizona, UCLA, Tennessee.  Or powers like Fresno State who faded away. 

I look at OU Softball like a lot of big name programs - Tennessee WBB, Baylor WBB, UConn WBB, South Carolina WBB - where one elite coach took them to the highest of highs.  But their history was not one of success prior.  And there's no guarantee of success when they leave (Tennessee, Baylor....hell, even Texas because it took the third hire after Jody to even get close to replicating the success). 

They're elite, no doubt - no one would deny this.  But programs don't say on top forever.  If they did, Tennessee WBB wouldn't have a 14 year NCAA title/Final Four drought. 

Who knows who will be the successor to Patty Gasso.  Who even knows if Joe Castiglione will be the one to hire or not.  All it takes is OU hiring a Steve Patterson arrogant jackass prior to her retirement who wants*his* stamp on the hire.  

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My last thought on OU/Gasso this morning -

She's gotten the benefit of beating up on a weak conference for a long time after Mizzou, Nebraska and A&M left.  Baylor had a couple good years, Texas has some good years, OSU resurged with Kenny G.  But she gets to basically destroy Tech/ISU/Kansas for 9 games a year, and tbh, for a while, it felt like OU took 15 games off in Big 12 play where they could play at 70% of their best and still win comfortably, only having to focus on maybe 3 games against Texas or 3 games against Baylor or 3 games against OK State.  (Very much a criticism Texas Volleyball has faced for having a weak conference slate to pad stats and not play as hard so they're fresher for the postseason)

No one in this conference could match her teams with Ricketts/Chamberlain/Pendley or Parker/Pendley/Knighten/Clifton or now (transfer pitcher)/Alo/Coleman/Jennings.  At least the SEC has, in most cases, the talent week in and week out to challenge. 

The SEC will be a much harder grind when you have to play Texas, Arkansas, LSU, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Miss St and Tennessee instead of Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas and Baylor.  

Applies to us too, but we've been "grinding" out the Big 12 schedule a lot longer than OU has because we were average under Clark and Mike had to deal with the aftermath. 

Edited by Js1
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3 hours ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

These ladies were on a two day high after beating OSU, even more attention, additional interviews, pats on the back, and seems like they forgot to tune in.  Hope last nights fiasco slapped some reality into them….TBD.

They each need a good slap on the ass

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I actually thought our primary breakdown last night was more mental than effort-based, at least in the beginning.  We started pressing early at the plate and in the field, and then it snowballed, and after that, mentally and emotionally, it was over.  There's no coming back against OU unless it's a run or two - their offense is just too good.

Take the first inning. OU pitcher is struggling with command and has walked several batters. Smith comes up and swings at the first thing she sees - it's up in the zone and she pops out to end the inning - that's pressing and not playing smart. You gotta work the count there.  Then, in the bottom frame, Dolcini was not doing that badly. She had several batters in favorable 2 strike counts, but those girls can hit and they guessed and executed perfectly.  Take the first baserunner for example. I recall Dolcini had her 0-2.  My call would have been a screwball off the plate to see if she would chase. Hailey did exactly that and threw a great pitch - it was off the plate and the batter chased . . . she just made a great swing (probably looking for that pitch) and ripped it for a double.  Sometimes you just have to tip the cap to a great piece of hitting.  Even the HR to Alo wasn't a bad pitch - it was in up on the hands, but Alo is a monster. Ok, 2-1, game not over.  Then we started pressing in the field, not taking the easy outs.  That's when it snowballed, and Dolcini starting losing it - the 2nd HR was a meatball.  After that, the game was effectively over.  There's no coming back from 5-1 against this OU team.  OSU, yes. Not OU.

The key is you have to play them close early and make them press - they are not used to that.  Easier said than done tho.  

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2 hours ago, Gut Wagon said:

Purely out of respect for our ladies' major accomplishment in getting to the title series, I refrained from making that comparison. We're better at softball than that Buffs team was at football. 

🖕😪

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I compared them earlier to Alabama football, but I just had lunch with a softball oldtimer who made a far better comparison. Oklahoma is Tiger Woods in his prime. He was beatable, if someone played great and he had an off weekend....but if he showed up with his A game, it didn't make a shit what anyone else did, he was winning and he was winning convincingly. 

Last night, he had his A game, and we couldn't hit a fairway or putt to save our lives. That's why he beat us by 15 strokes. Hopefully, tonight he finds the rough a couple of times and we can hang in there.

Edited by FloridaHorn
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Some thoughts before the game tonight. These women are awesome. They've been on the run of a lifetime, and unfortunately that has come at the same time that there is an all time great team across from them.

Which leads to my next point, we won the WCWS when we beat OSU twice in a day. We all agree that it's oklahoma then everyone else. Runners up is nothing to be ashamed of. There are a myriad of reasons and excuses we can come up with for last night, nothing went right, a couple mistakes were made and everything snowballed to shit. Emotionally they looked spent. 

This is by no means a throwing in of the towel. I'm sure we'll come out fighting tonight. Tonight will be the passing of the torch to Czech. HD has been a warrior for us and has given every thing she has. They've been better all postseason with their backs against the wall.

No matter what happens, I'm proud of our team and will always remember these ladies.

Let's fucking go. Hook 'em. 

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1 hour ago, FloridaHorn said:

I compared them earlier to Alabama football, but I just had lunch with a softball oldtimer who made a far better comparison. Oklahoma is Tiger Woods in his prime. He was beatable, if someone played great and he had an off weekend....but if he showed up with his A game, it didn't make a shit what anyone else did, he was winning and he was winning convincingly. 

Last night, he had his A game, and we couldn't hit a fairway or putt to save our lives. That's why he beat us by 15 strokes. Hopefully, tonight he finds the rough a couple of times and we can hang in there.

TY but that is a terrible comparison & you should make that oldtimer pay for your lunch moving forward if this is what he/she brings to the table.

I'm waiting for the idiots in media tell us how ousucks would beat team USA...

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2 hours ago, bschoolprof said:

I actually thought our primary breakdown last night was more mental than effort-based, at least in the beginning.  We started pressing early at the plate and in the field, and then it snowballed, and after that, mentally and emotionally, it was over.  There's no coming back against OU unless it's a run or two - their offense is just too good.

Take the first inning. OU pitcher is struggling with command and has walked several batters. Smith comes up and swings at the first thing she sees - it's up in the zone and she pops out to end the inning - that's pressing and not playing smart. You gotta work the count there.  Then, in the bottom frame, Dolcini was not doing that badly. She had several batters in favorable 2 strike counts, but those girls can hit and they guessed and executed perfectly.  Take the first baserunner for example. I recall Dolcini had her 0-2.  My call would have been a screwball off the plate to see if she would chase. Hailey did exactly that and threw a great pitch - it was off the plate and the batter chased . . . she just made a great swing (probably looking for that pitch) and ripped it for a double.  Sometimes you just have to tip the cap to a great piece of hitting.  Even the HR to Alo wasn't a bad pitch - it was in up on the hands, but Alo is a monster. Ok, 2-1, game not over.  Then we started pressing in the field, not taking the easy outs.  That's when it snowballed, and Dolcini starting losing it - the 2nd HR was a meatball.  After that, the game was effectively over.  There's no coming back from 5-1 against this OU team.  OSU, yes. Not OU.

The key is you have to play them close early and make them press - they are not used to that.  Easier said than done tho.  

agree. the only correction is that I recall the ptich Smith swung at was low and likely a ball.

we should have walked Alo to set up force plays. the Alo pitch wasn't horrible as it was in but it was belt high.

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1 hour ago, Gut Wagon said:

Did Smith simply miss a "take" sign on that first pitch in the first inning? I can't imagine her not being given one. Water under the old bridge now, obviously. 

she missed a sign but it was the one saying "The pitcher has just walked 3 batters in a row! What do you do?"  Pierce would have had a coronary.

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35 minutes ago, TexasIsBetter said:

Some thoughts before the game tonight. These women are awesome. They've been on the run of a lifetime, and unfortunately that has come at the same time that there is an all time great team across from them.

Which leads to my next point, we won the WCWS when we beat OSU twice in a day. We all agree that it's oklahoma then everyone else. Runners up is nothing to be ashamed of. There are a myriad of reasons and excuses we can come up with for last night, nothing went right, a couple mistakes were made and everything snowballed to shit. Emotionally they looked spent. 

This is by no means a throwing in of the towel. I'm sure we'll come out fighting tonight. Tonight will be the passing of the torch to Czech. HD has been a warrior for us and has given every thing she has. They've been better all postseason with their backs against the wall.

No matter what happens, I'm proud of our team and will always remember these ladies.

Let's fucking go. Hook 'em. 

Pretty much all of this.  Beating OU was going to be a monumental task, everyone in the country was playing for second.  We are the unlucky(?) team who got this far, and took down some damn good teams to get there, 3 of whom were legit "contenders" for second place (Arky, UCLA and OSU). 

Maybe we finally hit a wall in terms of our pluckiness and cardiac comeback stuff and chip on the shoulder.  Wouldn't surprise me.   But they won't give up today, because they didn't against UW in game 7, they didn't against Arky in games 2 and 3 and they didn't against OSU when down 5-0. 

We had to take a game to get our nerves out at Arky too.  But that's the difference between a team who has never gotten this far and a roster full of players who either suffered the agonizing defeat of 2019 or were part of the highest high in 2021.  They have all the experience we don't, not to mention the hitting talent 1-9 and healthier pitching depth and coaching. 

Edited by Js1
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Hindsight is always 20/20 but White should have started Czech. 

Dolcini battled against Oklahoma State but that was all guts and OU has a much more dangerous lineup. I get why that was a tough decision for White as everyone criticized him for not starting Dolcini in the previous game. 

These are not easy decisions. 

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2 hours ago, Goodman said:

TY but that is a terrible comparison & you should make that oldtimer pay for your lunch moving forward if this is what he/she brings to the table.

I'm waiting for the idiots in media tell us how ousucks would beat team USA...

No it’s not. You’re just looking for something to bitch about.

If OU brings their A game, nobody in COLLEGE is beating them.

Who the hell said anything about Team USA.

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2 hours ago, Goodman said:

TY but that is a terrible comparison & you should make that oldtimer pay for your lunch moving forward if this is what he/she brings to the table.

I'm waiting for the idiots in media tell us how ousucks would beat team USA...

Go to bed, you’re drunk. 

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2 hours ago, dcar00 said:

she missed a sign but it was the one saying "The pitcher has just walked 3 batters in a row! What do you do?"  Pierce would have had a coronary.

Probably outthought herself:  she just walked 3 in a row, so she will want to get ahead here and be expecting me to take. It’ll probably be a fat pitch down the middle. I should take advantage and hammer it. 
 

then she couldn’t hammer it. 

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