If you didn't watch Monday night's Fiesta Bowl, you missed the greatest finish of any game in college football history. Boise State beat OU 43-42, and I'm tired of seeing the replays, the celebration, the little mildly retarded Broncos running back proposing to his obviously sympathetic cheerleader girlfriend.

Because I'm a Sooners fan.

However, that was a great game, and Boise State sooooo deserved to win.

I've got a few quick observations on what many are calling the greatest Bowl game ever, at least perhaps the greatest finish. Follow along with the bouncing ball and stare at Radio as he trots into the end zone and proposes to his sister.

Bitter, I'm not.

Observations below:

1. I didn't pay attention to this game for 55 clock minutes because OU played lethargically and made ample mistakes. OU didn't show up to this game like it hadn't in its last Orange and Sugar Bowls. Sorry, but Bob Stoops is to blame for the team's lack of preparation.

My very knowledgable and brutally honest buddy Jerm noted to me today that, hey, the Oklahoma sports media is so one-sided when it comes to the Sooners that they'll never be able to judge Stoops fairly, particularly considering he won a national title in his second year.

Hell, I'm critical of blown-game Bob, and I still revere the man as a coach. However, it's clear that his magic is slipping. Worse yet, Stoops' teams have been ill-prepared for truly big games the past four years.

There is nothing worse, in my book, than being under-prepared.

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2. I was told by a good source today that during the week leading up to the Fiesta Bowl, when BSU and OU players would hang out together, Sooners players treated the Broncos like little brothers. Almost patronizing. His take was that even if the Oklahoma coaches didn't take the Broncos lightly, the players almost certainly did.

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3. For all the hype about Adrian Peterson, Allen Patrick was the best running back wearing crimson last night. He's been the best running back all year, and my sincere hope is that No. 28 does go pro because, I think, his Fiesta Bowl return pretty much derailed what OU had accomplished offensively the past eight weeks.

Truth is, as much as I was kidding about Ian Johnson -- referring to him as looking like he was mentally retarded or like that movie character -- he's got a heart as big as Texas. He's talented, able, seems like a great guy, and he's got serious, serious character. Like Quentin Griffin a few years back -- little but talented, smart and determined.

Give me No. 41 any day of the year, any season over Adrian Peterson.

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4. Bob Stoops was disturbingly outcoached by Chris Petersen. Petersen was on the sideline, high-fiving with assistants as if this were a game of Tecmo Bowl. Sure, Petersen's calls were gutsy, but they were also smart and kept us off-balance, and all the plays were well executed.

Truth is, an Oklahoma team hasn't kept another team off balance since 1999, when Mike Leach was our offensive coordinator. Leach is currently the Big 12's best game coach and best play caller, and a guy like him is desperately needed back in Oklahoma.

Stoops is still a great season manager. He maximizes the team's abilities over the course of a season so well. Hell, without Bomar -- who was still better than Paul Thompson, no matter what you say, no matter what Thompson did and no matter how good a guy Thompson is (and, he seems to be an excellent dude) -- Stoops still managed to lead Oklahoma to an 11-3 record and a Big 12 title.

I ain't gonna bitch too much.

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5. But about that defense! I still hate the job Brent Venables has done. He's nowhere near as talented as Mike Stoops. Never was, and his departure will be welcomed by the same group who clapped and cheered with Chuck Wrong left for San Diego State.

We're up 35-28 with 1:02 left, and Venables assigns corners and safeties to each cover a quadrant of field. Oklahoma recruits the best athletes in the country, many of whom will play DB on Sundays and Mondays, and you mean to tell me he won't let them play man to man?

Furthermore, that Statue of Liberty play that BSU pulled off was on tape. They did it against Idaho. After the game, Stoops said that he was concerned about a weak-side handoff, but Venables only put a couple of fatties on that side to protect.

On the other hand, Boise State -- who acknowledges that this play rarely worked in practice -- executed perfectly. It was a beautiful, beautiful play. However, we should be ashamed for not being able to defend it. That singular play was embarrassing, symptomatic of how bad our defense is capable of playing under Venables, and personally -- I think -- final evidence that Venables needs to go get himself a head coaching gig somewhere.

The play was on tape. That we didn't pick up on what they were going to do is inexcusable.

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6. I loved how Boise State scored on 4th and 18 like the rest of America, but for the love of God, it was a hook-and-lateral not a freaking hook and ladder. There are no ladders in football. It is not Chutes and Ladders.

It is a hook. A passing pattern where the guy runs down field and hooks back to receive the ball.

The receiver then LATERALS it to a guy running his way.

Hook and lateral.

It makes me nuts, just like trying to explain to Texans back in the 1990s that the term OSKIE was real and that it referred to interceptions, a term used in tip drills where DBs would yell ... Oh, never mind. I didn't even play football, and I know this.

I'm being overly critical. Truth is, Oklahoma was in a classic, one of the greatest games ever played, almost certainly the best football game this century, possibly the best ending to any football game in my lifetime.

I should note that my high school alma mater, Henryetta, lost on a 2-point conversion in overtime in the quarterfinals of the Class 2A high school football playoffs this past season. That game was damn near as good as this Boise State-OU game, too.

Henryetta had taken the lead 35-28 in OT. Davis' little wishbone-running quarterback ran the ball in. The Knights went offside on the first extra-point attempt, and in Boise State fashion, the Wolves went for two.

It was exciting and riveting ...

... but I'm tired of being on the wrong end of these sons of bitches.

So, I'm counting on the Oklahoma women and the Dallas Mavericks to do me right this year.

Hell, if Tony Romo and the Cowboys could pull off a miracle in the next couple of weeks.

If. If. If. If. If. If. If.

It all comes down to preparation, coaching and heart. That's all sports is, and it's exactly why Oklahoma got beat -- because those boys from Boise outclassed us on all three fronts.