40 Acres Sports

The University of [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] issued a statement today that two players had been kicked off the football team for receiving “extra compensation above that to which they were entitled, related to their employment at a private business.” No names were cited in the release but numerous outlets are reporting that one of the two players was starting quarterback Rhett Bomar. The other player is reportedly Bomar’s roommate, starting right guard J.D. Quinn.

Bomar was working at an Oklahoma City car dealership, the same one that made news by letting Adrian Peterson “borrow” a Lexus for several weeks, and reported $18,000 of income for the year despite only working about five hours per week. That would work out to about $70 per hour (if he was working 52 weeks a year) for whatever he was supposedly doing for the dealership. Like Al Capone and possibly Barry Bonds, I guess it was the IRS that finally did Bomar in.

This obviously has big Big 12 and national implications as the Sooners were being touted by many experts as national title contenders going into the season. They were also voted as Big 12 favorites by the media. Now they’ll head into next week’s practices without their starting quarterback and no clear answer as to who will take over the position. We’ll likely see QB-turned-WR Paul Thompson moved back to quarterback where he’ll battle with JUCO transfer Joey Halzle and a true freshman for the starting nod. The Sooners’ QB situation just became as murky as the Longhorns’.

I guess this brings new meaning to the term “Bomar’d.”

Update

Rumors are flying that this is just the beginning and that more suspensions will be coming soon. Adrian Peterson’s name has of course been mentioned due to his relationship with Big Red Sports/Imports. The other names are D.J. Wolfe, projected starting cornerback, and Garrett Hartley their starting placekicker. Now these are definitely just rumors, and I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more of this in the next couple of days. It is hard to believe that just two players were involved when we know that other OU players had relationships with this car dealership. (5:30 pm)

Get ready for some down years in recruiting for those Oklahoma boys up in Norman and Stillwater. Yesterday the Seattle Sonics were sold to a business group from Oklahoma City for a whopping $350 million (those casinos up there must be doing better than I thought).

Now this has to worry all of the OU and OSU fans out there. I mean where will the money come from to “solicit” all of their recruits? How will they afford all of the Texas players they keep getting. In the near future I expect to see a lot of decommits coming from the Sooners and Cowboys, and possibly even some transfers.

My question is if anyone warned ole Stooper about this? He can’t be too pleased about this. Not only will he probably lose some players over this, but he will probably lose about $1 million in under-the-table bonuses that he usually receives. How will he feed his family?

[tag]Oklahoma[/tag] Sooners fans were furious with the officiating at the end of their matchup with [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] back in November. Several questionable calls in the final minute went against the Sooners, including the final play where Tech’s Taurean Henderson barely did/didn’t cross the goal line.

Well the Red Raiders aren’t going to let the opportunity to rub it in the Sooners’ faces one more time pass them by, and they’ll happily sell a few extra season tickets in the process. They’ve put a great billboard up in Lubbock with a photo of Henderson stretching the football across the goal line that says, “He’s in. Are you?” Of course they used a photo from his second effort that came after he was down, but it’s still amusing.

That billboard sure would look good here in Dallas or maybe smack in the middle of Norman.

This is why Aggies can’t have nice things. You never know when the boat ramp will be slick so be sure you know what to do if it happens to you: don’t touch the gas pedal, apply the brakes and let your front wheels hold the vehicle in place.

Please, if you’re wearing Texas gear, don’t do anything stupid on camera (like rob a bank.)

Note: Though everyone on Orangebloods is sure the photo is from Lake Austin near Hula Hut, there’s a chance the logo is Photoshopped in.

Bevo, Ralphie, and the Baylor bears are probably the best live mascots in sports.

It looks like the [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] Sooner basketball program is about to be hit with some serious NCAA sanctions for their many infractions dealing with various recruiting violations. The NCAA isn’t exactly an observant organization, but 550 illegal phone calls is sure to draw some interest:

OU broke rules recruiting James

By Berry Tramel
The Oklahoman

We don’t know what the NCAA’s infractions committee asked the Oklahoma basketball brigade Friday. The door to the principal’s office was closed.

But here’s what the NCAA jurists should have asked everyone wearing Sooner lapels: Explain why Damion James should be eligible to play for your school.

OU was in Park City, Utah, on Friday not because of a misunderstanding. Not because of a gray area in the rules. Not because they kept missing recruits on the phone and piled up too many calls.

OU was in Park City, Utah, because it cheated. Kelvin Sampson and his staff broke the rules.

Not a few times. Many times.

Not by accident. Purposely and unquestionably.

Not insignificantly. Significantly.

OU basketball broke the rules and profited, most recently in the form of James, the 6-foot-8 schoolboy star from Nacogdoches, Texas. Transcripts of the NCAA’s investigation show that Sooner coaches began calling James during his junior season.

You can’t call juniors. Not from a box and not with a fox. Not in a house and not with a mouse. You cannot call them here or there, you cannot call them anywhere.

If you call a junior, it had better be to tell him his house is on fire. Otherwise, it’s cheating. Flagrant, blatant cheating. No less cheating than if you handed him $20,000 in cash.

The NCAA found OU guilty of more than 550 impermissible phone calls, including 98 to juniors, over the last several years.

We don’t know who all the recipients were, but we know James was among them.

So how can the NCAA’s enforcement wing possibly allow James to play for the Sooners? Is James not ill-gotten gain?

Every coach in America will tell you that recruiting is about relationships. Building relationships. Nurturing relationships.

How could it possibly not have been a major advantage for OU to be quick on the draw with James? The Sooners jumped the gun and, just like their namesakes in 1889, reaped the bounty.

How can the NCAA pretend to be serious about rules when it asks Texas and Kansas and OSU to compete the next few years against a Sooner team that has James on the roster?

And Sampson’s departure for Indiana should cut OU no slack, for the same reasoning that holds recruits to their letters of intent (ala Scottie Reynolds) even when a coach leaves. Sometimes it’s hard to remember, with the crazy system college basketball has constructed, but the program and the school are bigger than the coach.

In the NCAA transcripts, OU coaches talk of how they thought the phone calls were just a way to outwork opponents. Sampson talks about who turned OU in.

That doesn’t sound like a lesson learned.

None of this is fair to new Sooner coach Jeff Capel. But no one in crimson is in position to talk about fair. And Capel took this job with eyes wide open.

It’s also not fair to James. He was just a kid – a junior, remember – answering the phone. But if the NCAA ruled James ineligible at OU, he would have options and plenty of them (see Reynolds).

And cheating will have gone unrewarded.

I can’t imagine that Kelvin Sampson will escape this without some sort of penalty. He was the one directly responsible for the cheating, he doesn’t deserve to escape punishment just because he skipped town for Indiana. He and his new team should receive equal punishment and Indiana should immediately show him the door. The Hoosiers had to know this was going down, what a terrible hire.

The interesting part of all this for Longhorn fans is that [tag]Damion James[/tag] is an elite small forward who will probably looking for a new school attend soon. The 5-star out of Nacogdoches had Texas on his list of schools before he committed to OU last year and would certainly get a good look from James if he does in fact decide to ask out of his letter of intent. He and Kevin Durant both are best suited for the 3 but could split time at that position and the power forward slot and give the Horns a ridiculously long and athletic team. With LaMarcus Aldridge off to the NBA, PJ Tucker possibly following him, and Craig Winder a transfer possibility, Texas probably would have a scholarship available for Jones if he’s interested.

Jason White’s hometown threatens to call the FBI because they couldn’t configure their own web server.

Mack Brown & Bob Stoops are the best head coaches and Gene Chizik is the best DC.

A look around the conference at teams’ big question marks and position battles.

Follow the score and get live expert commentary from CBS SportsLine.