Many things to touch on from the weekend. So, let's get right to it.

First, the Sooners squeaked by UAB. As I noted earlier in the week, I wasn't surprised that the Blazers played OU tough. They have that reputation.

On the other hand, my concern for Oklahoma has just skyrocketed. While quarterback Paul Thompson played pretty well early before going really inconsistent by the start of the third quarter, the entire offense was too vanilla for me to have expectations beyond 8-4.

My first complaint is that it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that running Adrian Peterson up the middle wasn't working. Everytime we'd pitch the ball out to the guy, he'd blaze. Up the middle just didn't get the job done. The coaches did a terrible job of reacting to trends, IMHO.

My second complaint is that the defense just simply forgot how to tackle white boys. Good God was that Sam Hunt elusive. Mega props to that kid. He's the best white option quarterback I've seen in a long time.

However, OU won, and that's all I care about. There is no guarantee we'll beat Washington, and it's looking less and less that we can avoid a butt kicking in Oregon come Sept. 16.

Here's my gradebook for Game 1:

Paul Thompson: B He managed the offense well enough. He'll get better, I'd suspect. My concern is that he just doesn't seem to be very fast.

Adrian Peterson: A+ We lose without this guy.

Jermaine Gresham: F The freshman TE was a complete non-factor and fumbled what I believe was his only reception. Not sure what all the fuss is about.

Wide Receivers: C They dropped too many balls for my taste. However, I think I'm being a bit harsh with this grade. Perhaps a B-.

Joe Jon Finley: A This guy reminds me of Ed McAffery. He was terrific.

Offensive Line: C- Blocked great on the outside but were just awful at developing holes for Adrian on the inside. We're desperately bad at the center and guard positions if Saturday's running attack up the middle was any indication.

Kicking: A Can't complain. No shanks. All the FGs were good. Life is dandy for the kickers of the world.

Kevin Wilson: D If this is what we get from a Chuck Long replacement, then I just think it's a shame. His offense had the variety of oatmeal, and his plan of attack was to play NOT to lose. I'll say it again: The only great offensive coordinator Stoops has ever hired was Mike Leach. The other guys were mere caretakers of better teams.

Rufus Alexander: A Without this guy, our defense would still be looking for Hunt.

Rest of the OU defense: F- They allowed UAB to dink and dunk and run and -- OU just got their tails whipped on defense by a team that went 5-6 last year. The problem for me isn't that we gave up points. It's that we sucked at defending the run and the pass. We have to do at least one well if we intend on achieving BCS status.

Moving onward ... the friends and I had a bit of a disagreement on the new rules for tipping at restaurants, or in this case a local pub in Norman. They say the standard is now 20 percent.

I said that I never got the memo, maintaining that 15 percent is the standard unless the service was excellent or you're part of a large party. Restaurants typically classify large parties as more than 6 or 7 people.

Anyway, just to make sure, I did a little research online, trying to make sure that my sources were as recent as possible. I utilized things like Zagat's and a site called the online tipping guide, tipping.org.

Most of the sites said 15 percent is the standard unless you're at a posh place in New York or Los Angeles. Posh = 4-star restaurant.

The Zagat's Guide for 2006 said the rule of thumb is more like 18 percent IF the service was good and 15 percent if it was average or below. Anything more was appreciated.

What's interesting is that according to Zagat's, the best-tipping city in America is Philadelphia. They average about 19.2 percent.

However, the majority of credible, current sites still say 15 percent is the standard. They were all clear that tipping is not an obligation by any means. Personally, and I'm the only one among the lot of us yesterday who has worked in food/bar service, I think restaurant owners should just pay their people more.

$2.13 per hour or whatever it is now is criminal in my estimation.

It might seem trivial, and it's not exactly the most important information in the world, but nobody wants to be that guy who's just a cheap bastard. Plus, the rules for tipping are not nearly the same for restaurants as they are for bars and pubs or deliveries or hairdressers, and this list could continue for some time.

Here are the links I used to look this crap up:

Link 1


Handy Tip-Chart Included


20% is standard in NY or LA. Chicago (meaning, the rest of us) is 15 percent


18% is minimum but they're talking about NY



Philadelphia ranked as best tippers at 19.2 percent


18 to 18.7% is the standard, but they're saying that this is what people do tip, not what they should tip

The best consensus I can derive from everything I found online is that 15 percent is still OK but the cool kids are tipping more, somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 percent. As for there being a social obligation to tip 20, I'm not sure where they got that, but I do want to be one of the cool kids.

Don't we all?