Hey, I'm just a few days from revealing what I believe to be the best songs of the year -- my very own Top 25 for 2007, an arbitrary collection of new songs I heard this year, all of which made an impression on me for one reason or another.

But first, we still have 1980 to take care of, right?

We've looked at my favorite songs, my Top 10, for 1980 -- combed from the year-end Billboard charts. If it was a big hit in 1980, big enough to make their year-end list, it was big enough for me to give it consideration. Not only was I looking for tunes that pleased my aesthetic fancy, I was looking for songs that had some pop culture significance.

And, for me, it just doesn't get much better than The Pretenders. Over the years, they have really never released anything I thought was turdish, which is to their credit considering just about every artist has dropped a turd in their day.

What made The Pretenders so great was Chrissie Hynde. She's sexy, vocally unique and embodies the song I have tabbed for No. 3 in my 1980 Top 10 list -- "Brass in Pocket."

It's a tune about self-confidence and using it to, well, get noticed. It's a song whose melody and arrangement are soft but whose personality is uber-strong. This is a song that only sexy women can sing. Take, for example, Scarlett Johannson in the movie, "Lost In Translation."

She's donning the sexy pink wig. She's had a few drinks, and she thinks old-man Bill Murray is the deal. At a little Japanese karaoke get-together, she busts out the "Brass in Pocket," and every hetero, red-blooded male swooned.

I could have cared less that she doesn't sound a thing like Chrissie Hynde. Truth is, this song stands up with the same power when somebody else sings it as when The Pretenders mastered it. Overshadowed in this, though, was the tune Bill Murray sang -- "More Than This" from Roxy Music.

I could go on and on about how great this movie was. One of my five all-time favorite movies, and one of the ten or so great romance movies of all-time. However, we're here to talk about this tune, and I think its placement in this movie, used as a device for wooing Bill Murray, underscored what a great song this is.

First, here are The Pretenders with No. 3 - "Brass in Pocket"

Next, here is Scarlett Johannson with her brief cinematic version:

This guy is not making my Top 25 end-of-year 2007 countdown that will begin soon. However, I seriously dig this dude's dance moves.

One of the great joys of having had a few days off is that I got the chance to be a P1 again -- that is to listen to 1310 AM The Ticket, the best sports radio station on the planet.

Yes, I understand that Oklahoma City already has six stations, and they're not half bad. In fact, I think the competition that has sprung up over the past couple of years has resulted in better radio. For example, Toby Rowland on KREF is vastly underrated as a host as is my colleague Mark Rodgers. I'm also a fan of fellow Henryettan Dave Garrett whose sense of humor is very underrated as well.

These are three guys who I think could fit in with a station like The Ticket, which is a culture unto itself. Seriously. If you listen to Oklahoma City sports radio and think you know what the great 1310 AM would be like simply by reading about it, you'll be in for a very welcome surprise, particularly if you're in the male 25 to 54 demo.

The best way I can describe The Ticket for those who have never listened (just go to www.theticket.com, and you can listen live 24/7) is that it's as if their on-air talent have been drinking buddies forever. Basically, they hold a conversation throughout the day, and it's one part sports, one part TV and pop culture, one part chicks, one part drinkin', one part life, and they have a loyal, loyal following, and they essentially dominate Dallas radio right now.

The Ticket has been around since 1994, and I started listening in Year 2, which is how a P1 identifies himself. A P1 is somebody who sets his first radio setting to X station and basically never leaves it throughout the day, and there are people who listen to this station all day, every day.

There are many treatises on this here blogosphere touting the greatness of the little Ticket, so I won't delve into it. However, if I were to consult with any of the sports stations hoping to compete with The Sports Animal (and Jox 930), I would strongly advise them to adopt The Ticket format.

So, who locally would I recruit for this station? Besides myself?

If I'm picking a dream team from OKC sports radio to start this venture, I pick: Mark Rodgers, Toby Rowland, Dave Garrett, Curtis Fitzpatrick, Pork and Mike Steely. In fact, the entire "Morning Animal" team would be perfect for this station. They're about as close to The Ticket as we get here in OKC.

The thing about The Ticket is that they feature people of various media backgrounds. I went to school with Oklahoman entertainment editor George Lang, and I think he'd fit in there quite well. Maybe Rob Collins from the Gazette, too. You see the mix I'm going for here -- fairly young and not too sportsy. You do notice some of the names I'm omitting, right?

Norman's own Clay Horning, a running buddy of mine in college, would be solid as well. I can't tell you how many conversations we had regarding the value of singles versus albums in the early 1990s, and these conversations invariably ended up with him espousing the greatness of Iron Maiden.

Another of my colleagues, Chris Callahan, would be a solid choice, too. The great John Brooks might be good for this; he kind of reminds me of Mike Rhyner a bit.

Two guys I failed to note before I submitted this, dudes I'd add to this mix, include T.J. Perry from KREF and whoever the new guy working with Al Eschbach is. Not Rusty Olsen, who left for his own radio show on the REF. I'm talking about the voice who speaks with Al from time to time.

Could you do a day's worth of programming with this crew? Who knows. Truth is, a lot of what makes 1310 so excellent isn't its stars; it's the bit players. And, this wouldn't mean that this station would have to forego sports. Heck, The Ticket is the flagship station for the Dallas Cowboys, and they have featured SMU football and high school sports live as well.

The difference is that they have turned commuters who happen to turn their radios on into listeners 24x7. They are master branders, but it all starts with content, and the little Ticket has hit a gold mine with what wins a 25 to 54 male audience.

And it has zero to do with sports talk, idiots calling in to inquire why Brent Venables hasn't done a better job. Heck, I'm not sure that the little Ticket even takes calls anymore. That's how good the content is.

All I know is that what plays in Dallas would definitely play in Oklahoma City, and with six sports stations saturating the market, somebody is missing a big opportunity.

Sometimes you hear a song from an emerging singer-songwriter and immediately know he or she is brilliant. This is such a song.

It's a tune called "Vegas," from an emerging artist named Sara Bareilles, and it's a live rendition. The musicians are great. Her voice is terrific, and the song is really top-notch. One of the best of the year.

It's been an uneventful few days off, which is just the way I like it. The cool thing is that I still have four more days off, including weekend days, and the house is picked up. The lawn is cut and edged. Laundry and dishes are done.

The El Campo Ricebirds did lose tonight, in stunning fashion I might add -- 21-14 to the Foster Falcons -- but that's been the only blemish on an otherwise perfect vacation.

I usually use vacation days to check out some food spots here in Norman and beyond that I have seen but haven't had the chance to try. As a public service to you, I'm posting some thoughts about each.

1. Furr's Fresh Buffet -- I-35 in Moore

Not only am I a Furr's aficionado, I was part of a team that worked on their current Web site at furrs.net, and I have a sign in my laundry room from Furr's noting that you, too, can take home some pie for only $5.99.

I would estimate that I've eaten at Furr's possibly 250 times, which is probably not as much as old folks but it's more than the average hipster. I've ranted about society and culture and general hipster disdain for the buffet, but if good choices are made, then it can be a healthful experience.

I only make a few good selections, and then their Millionaire Pie ruins everything.

Alas, if you know your Furr's culinary lineup, then frankly there is nothing new about the "Furr's Fresh Buffet." It is literally the same food as the cafeteria. However, instead of lining up cafeteria style, patrons go-and-grab Golden Corral style.

Unfortunately for Furr's, I think the cafeteria setup works much better, and I'm not sure that it's not because it subconsciously takes us back to our school days. I recall the servers in Dallas, and I always enjoyed that I got my chicken fry and pan-fried potatoes served up with a little sass.

By the way, the chicken-fried steak and pan-fried potatoes combo is Furr's best dish. I had some of that, and I had some "hand-carved roast beef," which meant that some guy who could not speak a lick of English cut meat I was perfectly capable of cutting.

I had my regular selection of veggies -- broccoli, spinach, sweet potatoes and cabbage. Frankly, the vegetables were much better in Furr's cafeteria format because the food always tasted as if its sauces shared pans, if you know what I mean. Gave it a down-home flavor.

What really stunk about this place is that it was basically overflowing with people, and I definitely understand why hipsters look down on this place. Three-fourths of the eating crowd is literally morbidly obese.

I read a funny thing recently about socioeconomic status and food. The rich eat fancy food in tiny portions, while the poor folk are looking for mass quantity and value. Everything comes down to socioeconomic status in one way or another.

Not that I agree with hipsters looking down on my buffet-enjoying brethren, but I understand it. Once these folks filled up the joint, it was clear they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. They'd get plates No. 3, 4, 5 and 6, and the rest of us would stand in line waiting for them to finish.

Sure, the place looked nice, but the charm just isn't there, and when it comes to food, it tasted better at the cafeteria. Plus, the "Fresh Buffet" costs a buck or two more than its cafeteria counterpart.

2. Mackie McNair's Western Sizzlin' - I-35 & NW 12th Street, Moore

I had heard of this place from countless radio ads, and I see it everyday on the way home from work, but I had never tried it. And, I should say up front: I dig this place.

First, it has ambience, and this joint reminded me of a place we visited in Vegas. The buffet was only $6.99, and while the food wasn't that great, the place wreaked of some place gamblers would come and load up between drinking binges.

Seriously. In an hour there today, I saw some real characters walk into this place.

But best of all, lunch is only $6.99. Dinner is $8.59. Again, I think the food is a bit subpar, and so I'd generally pass on dinner, but it's a great lunch joint if you live nearby.

I should note that, to me, the standard is the Sirloin Stockade in Okmulgee and Pig-Out Palace in Henryetta. My friends in Norman know I am a big fan of the GC (Golden Corral for all the uncool cats), but those two places I noted whip the daylights out of the Corral.

Anyway, I don't want to delve into the virtues of those two places.

3. Himalayas - Berry Road in Norman

However, I did stop by a new Indian joint here in Norman, called Himalayas. It's just south of Robinson Street on Berry Road, and it's been open for three months, the owner told me. And, I should note that I had plenty of time to talk to the restaurant's proprietor (at least I think he was the owner) because the place was completely empty for lunch buffet.

Given that vacation for me means that I'm eating lunch at 3 p.m., then perhaps it makes the absence of lunch customers understandable. However, given that I love Indian food, it caused me a twinge of sympathy.

First, the standard for Indian buffets, for me, is Dallas' Taj Express on Lemmon Avenue. They are honored by the Dallas Observer year after year for their "creative use of spinach," for their creamed spinach -- technically called panak paneer, which is an extremely, extremely fattening dish that tastes wonderful. And it has spinach, which means it can't be all that bad for you, right?

Alas, Himalayas promotes itself on serving fine south Indian cuisine. Southside in the house. Heck, I wouldn't know south Indian from anything else; however, one very American dish they served stood out -- potato soup.

Now, I love my mom's potato soup. It's not that creamy, thick stuff you're used to. This is more of a thin soup, literally a combination of potatoes, water, milk, onion and salt. It is wonderful, but Himalayas' rendition was pretty darned good, too.

I had their tandori chicken, and I had some goat (tastes like chicken, smells like goat). I had several other typical Indian buffet side dishes, and it was all good. Not great. Not that I'm totally bagging on Misal's, but I'd rather go to Himalayas. First, Misal's is overpriced, and it frankly reminds me of Pei Wei, which is the Olive Garden of Chinese food.

It's generic and not that great, not that I hate Pei Wei or the Olive Garden. But if I'm given a choice, I'm more apt to eat at a "joint" instead of a chain. And, I know Misal's is not really a chain, but they darned sure do everything they can to make themselves seem bigger than a mom-and-pop.

Finally, I stopped by Rudy's barbecue in Norman, just south of Highway 9, along Chautauqua Avenue. However, I didn't eat there because they don't offer "meals." They offer food by the half-pound and pound and sides by the bowl, and from a usability perspective, it was just a pain in the butt.

I asked the drive-thru person about the availability of a two-meat combo, which every barbecue joint has, and he was like, "Uh, we don't do that."

Pain in the butt. I went to Van's Pig Stand, and I have to give it up to them: Their $5.99 polish sausage plate is the best barbecue deal in town, a town that now has THREE barbecue places. See, all of you judge your barbecue on the cow, but I like the pig.

The one place I didn't try this week but might on Tuesday is Fat Sandwich; however, I am hesitant to eat there because I still try to at least marginally healthful, and it's pretty much impossible there. Besides, I can't imagine going back more than once, which is the point -- to find some place you can patronize over and over.

So, let's summarize my local food findings over the past few months, including on this vacation.

Keepers: Van's Pig Stand was always a keeper, and I've eaten there for two years now, but I wanted to be sure and note it here. Chicken Express is the best fried chicken joint ever. It blows KFC, Popeyes, Church's, Charlie's, etc., away. Mackie McNair's Western Sizzlin' didn't have the best food, but it was adequate, and it was a great value. Plus, you cannot beat the ambience.

Maybe I'll return: Himalayas was an adequate Indian buffet, but it wasn't great, and I'd rather continue searching for my Indian nirvana (to mix religious metaphors) than to patronize this one just because it's local.

No, thanks: Going to Furr's Fresh Buffet the other night was like going to a "fancy restaurant" with a giant crowd but with the same menu Furr's has always had minus a little taste and a lot of ambience. Also, barbecue joints should offer meals. Don't make a single guy come in there and buy a pound of this and a bucket of that. Sell a darned meal for $7.59 and be done with it. So, a return trip to Rudy's is out of the question for me.

Now, I do believe Rudy's is a Texas outfit, which might mean that their barbecue is greatness. However, in terms of food, this is a to-go world, which is why places like IHOP, for example, are investing their marketing dollars in letting people know they can get meals to-go. In a college town, given the competition that exists, they're making a giant mistake here.

Still, I ask the barbecue gods, can we not have a Dickey's, please? The one at Central Expressway and Knox-Henderson in Dallas, outside of Mikeska's in El Campo, is the best barbecue joint on the planet. However, Van's is growing on me. Pretty good barbecue. Terrific ambience. Wish their sides were bigger, but ...

OK, now I'm hungry again.

Well, the Rockies did a little better tonight, but it unfortunately looks like this World Series will be another snoozer. Alas, it's been a good story for Colorado -- and I should note that I'm not a Colorado fan.

I'm a Texas Rangers fan, but you gotta have somebody to pull for in the series. And, I'm pretty much sick of seeing Boston win everything -- Patriots, Red Sox. Heck, Boston College might win the national championship.

Enough sports. I've discovered the absolute, without-a-doubt best new show of the season, and I haven't even watched it on TV. I've watched it all online.

It's CBS's "Big Bang Theory," a comedy about a pair of physicists who live next door to a hot blonde.

The show is from the creators of "Two and a Half Men," another terrific sitcom, highly underrated. However, "Big Bang ...," I'd submit, is already better. In fact, for me, this is the second best sitcom on television right now, next to "The Office."

However, it's also highly nerdy, so it's not for everybody. Here's the deal though. If you laugh at this clip, you'll like this show.

If Colorado's Game 1 loss to the Boston Red Sox was any indication as to how the entire World Series would play out, they can just spare everybody the boredom and hand Boston its title.

Josh Beckett was dominating, and Colorado's decision-making early on was questionable (infield in down 1-0 in the first?). However, all is not lost for these rusty Rockies because in baseball, there are no style points.

Lose 13-1 or 6-5 or 30-3 (like the Orioles did to Texas earlier this year), it still only counts as one loss. Unfortunately for the Rox, the domination didn't happen soon enough for Clint Hurdle's bunch not to use a big chunk of its bullpen.

Don't get me wrong. Boston was dominant from the start, but these Rockies pretty much believe they can comeback from anything. If history is any indication, this series is over given that the winner of Game 1 has won the last nine of 10 series.

On the other hand, Atlanta beat the New York Yankees by 12 in Game 1 of the 1996 series, and New York clobbered them four games to two.

Anything is possible. However, I'm not counting on it.

Boston's playoff savvy is too big a mountain for these Rocky Mountain youngsters to overcome just yet.

Then again, win Game 2, and we have a situation developing.

While the Colorado Rockies have won what seems like 55 of their last 56 baseball games, they are still underwhelming underdogs in the 2007 World Series to the Boston Red Sox.

And for good reason. Colorado doesn't stand a chance in the fall classic, which gets under way in Boston on Wednesday.

First and foremost, Boston has Josh Beckett available for games 1, 4 and 7, meaning that Colorado can be all but guaranteed of three losses in this series. Beckett has been that dominant, and when you consider that Colorado took care of Arizona while batting under .230, you wonder if a four or five-game series isn't pretty much guaranteed.

Honestly, I hope this is what the BoSox are expecting in the Rockies -- that they're a team happy to be there, a lucky team, a historical loser that will again learn how to fail spectacularly.

Why do I hope this? Because I absolutely believe that for whatever reason the Colorado Rockies are a team of destiny. Maybe it's the stars. Perhaps, it's the Coors beer. Could be good karma for Todd Helton, a good guy who has waited it out in the big leagues, with a perennially bad franchise, for a chance to play some postseason baseball.

They play what we baseball fans refer to as quintessential National League baseball. Did you know that in the NLCS, they basically dominated the Diamondbacks with singles?

They nubbed them to death. Hit and ran. Good pitching. Great defense.

If you love fundamental baseball at its best, the 2007 Colorado Rockies' postseason run has been one for the ages. And, the advantage that National League baseball always had during the runs St. Louis would make in the 1980s is that the other guys could have power and stars and such, while the Cardinals would have speed, pitching, defense and strategy.

That's right, strategy. I'm an American League guy, but I'm also the first to admit that the NL has a leg up on the AL when it comes to strategy, and that will be a giant advantage for Colorado in games 3, 4 and 5.

When to take out a pitcher. When to double switch. Knowing when to leave your pitcher in to bat because he can hit a curve.

Sure, Boston didn't have any problem with that in 2004 against St. Louis. However, that Cardinals club didn't come from as far back as these Rockies, and I'd submit that Colorado's ascension to the pinnacle of the baseball world has been built on postseason brains as much as brawn.

I'm a bit concerned that too much time has passed for Colorado to maintain its momentum into Wednesday night's Game 1 in Boston. Heck, and I know that Boston's star pitching and star hitting and all that will probably be way too much for Colorado in the end.

But I also know that this feels a lot like a Disney movie ... and you know who always wins at the end of those.

Has there ever been a movie you've watched, which upon first view seemed to be only average but upon second and third views developed into brilliance?

Late last year, I wrote about "Factotum," a movie starring Matt Dillon, who plays a character inspired by a young Charles Bukowski. Overall, I gave the movie a very average rating, noting that it wasn't a dark comedy but instead a dark, desperate film about a dark, desperate soul.

I am officially an idiot.

Maybe it takes a second look or a different mindset, but thanks to an online service I'll soon cancel -- Vongo -- I watched it a couple of times again over the past couple of days and absolutely fell in love with it.

Hey, I love the dark movie. I love movies in which booze is a central character. I love dry humor, and "Factotum" actually had all of it. In particular, I recall a conversation between Dillon and a boss who would soon fire him.

Dillon explained that he was a writer and that he had almost finished a novel, to which the boss replies, "So, what's the book about?"

"Everything," Dillon replied.

"Everything? Is it about, uh, cancer?," the boss asked.

"Yup," Dillon retorted.

"What about my wife? Is she in there?," the boss quipped.

"Yup. She's in there, too," Dillon said.

When I look at the best booze movies, I am quick to point out "Barfly" and "Trees Lounge" and "Leaving Las Vegas," and I am sure I missed one or two of my other favorites. However, this movie about a focused screw-up has won its way into this list, and I do believe I saw this one at Wal-Mart for like $7.50, which means I'll buy it.

This movie is definitely not for everybody. It's dark. It's dry. It's drunken, and it is desperate. However, it's proof that sometimes I need to give movies a second shot before trying to sell others of its mediocrity.

Here's a review I absolutely respected -- except for the part in which she referred to "Crash" as monumental mediocrity (baloney). Nevertheless, she's dead-on right with this movie. Greatness.

While most of the Sooner Nation sat around their televisions in utter disbelief, watching Iowa State manhandle us in the first half of today's game in Ames, Iowa, I said the following to Toad and Joey:

I am not nervous in the least.

And, I wasn't. Iowa State is not a good football team, and while I had seen OU lose to a not-so-good football team in Boulder, Colo., a few weeks ago (on TV), Jack Trice Stadium just has never been a juggernaut for Oklahoma.

I wasn't worried in the least. But while Oklahoma came back with 17 unanswered points to beat the lowly Cyclones 17-7, we Sooners fans are left with even more questions than in previous weeks.

We know how well this Sooners team can play, but have we seen just how bad it can play yet? Seriously. Right now, based on what I've seen, based on how this team plays on the road, I will guarantee -- flat out guarantee -- Oklahoma will lose in Lubbock, Texas, in a few weeks.

In fact, Texas Tech might beat us by 10 to 17.

Sure, I think part of it is that OU is a young team and that perhaps we're not as good as we thought we were after four games. However, a lot of it centers on just how wacky a football season this has been. Road wins by highly ranked teams against decent clubs have been tough to come by in 2007, unless your school is Appalachian State or Vanderbilt.

Nevertheless, with Auburn beating LSU 17-7 in the third quarter in Baton Rouge, we Sooners fans have to understand that the 2007 mantra is survive and advance. At this point, I am not ready to complain about any win.

A couple of observations from today's win, though:

1. Why Cale Gundy continues with the three-RB rotation is baffling. DeMarco Murray should be THE tailback, period. Is he secretly working for his brother?

2. Curtis Lofton is the best defensive player on our team. Not as physically gifted as Calmus or Rufus or Lehman, I suppose, but the guy is all heart. Love the way he plays.

3. While Malcolm Kelly did catch four balls today, it's clear that No. 4 is not Sam Bradford's No. 1 option when it matters most. Sam has been terrific this year up to today, and he wasn't very good today. He has to be able to recognize that Malcolm is the money man when it counts, and I still say Kevin Wilson has underdeveloped this offense. Sure, we ran a reverse, but I still say that a savvy video gamer could figure out what OU's going to do on offense. If that is true, imagine what an opposing team could do.

4. I don't really have any complaints with Brent Venables today. Fact is, buddy, your defense -- our defense -- will get torched (T-O-R-C-H-E-D) against Texas Tech at this rate and would likely get bombed by Mizzou in a rematch in Kansas City. How a defense with our talent can make lesser teams look like NFL squads has to be addressed at some point, but not today. OU held Iowa State to 7. Good enough.

Because in 2007, winning will just have to be good enough. I am ready to declare that, realistically, Oklahoma doesn't have one lick of a chance to win the national title, but this season has been just crazy enough that I can't bet the farm against it.

We'll just have to stay tuned ... and root against everybody else in the BCS Top 10.

I am quite aware of the rules of rooting when it comes to pro teams.

You're supposed to root only for teams whose locales have something intertwined with your life. For example: Did you live there? Do you live there? Is it the closest pro market to your area?.

It makes me crazy to hear Bob Barry Jr. talk on The Sports Animal about "his BoSox," when he's as Oklahoman as you get. Did he go to Harvard? Did Big Bob Sr. have a second home in Cambridge I didn't know about?

Well, I've violated this rule many times when I was younger. Even a couple years ago, I rooted for the Los Angeles Clippers as part of an assignment I gave myself to follow an out-of-market NBA team with the NBA League Pass on Cox Digital Cable.

My team is still the Dallas Mavericks.

The Clippers are just a mistress, a little action on the side.

In the NFL, I had never really had any such thing. Dallas' Cowboys are not only America's Team; they are clearly my team, too. However, I am becoming a Minnesota Vikings fan mighty quick, and I'll tell you why.

Adrian Peterson.

When I was asked two months ago about how A.D. would do in the pros, I said he would be the hands-down rookie of the year. There was some mild scoffing, particularly in light of the fact that the former Oklahoma stud is injury prone.

And that he shares the workload with Chester Taylor. Er, make that "shared."

Adrian Peterson is so good, so early, that one ESPN column said he is already the second-best running back in the entire league -- and I disagree. Pound for pound, given his breakaway speed, his strength and his pass-catching ability, he is THE best back in the league.

Already.

Not only is he a sure thing, barring injury, for rookie of the year, Adrian Peterson will be in the running for NFL MVP. Of course, there's no way he beats Tom Brady for that honor, and -- frankly -- an injury could fall No. 28.

However, against my Dallas Cowboys this weekend, Adrian Peterson comes home to Texas. I'm not sure what success he'll have against Wade Phillips' defense, but even if I'm pulling for Dallas, I'm pulling for this guy to break off some gangsta runs.

Sorry. Not that he's a "gangsta" or of bad character. Not at all. In fact, Bob Stoops told Minnesota's head coach that A.D.'s primary goal at Oklahoma was to be a good teammate.

However, I don't know how else to describe Adrian Peterson other than "bad ass." He is a bad ass.

Oddly enough, in my personal and never humble opinion, I still think Quentin Griffin was the better Oklahoma running back. He did more for us at times when we needed it most to help us win huge games, and I have always thought little No. 22 was vastly underrated in Norman.

However, mark it down. Except for tragedy or injury or some fatal turn of character, Adrian Peterson will be the greatest NFL player in OU history.

Highlights from Adrian's big day against Chicago last weekend:

One of the great musical shames of all time was that Freddie Mercury died young. Not only did he have the best pipes in rock-n-roll, he was one of pop music's best songwriters, with a knack for both the sophisticated and very simple.

Take for example Queen's 1980 No. 1 hit, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," which is my No. 4 song for that year, based on Billboard magazine's year-end list. It's a tune awash in rockabilly, made to sound like something Elvis might have done.

However, it's become a pop standard.

Lots of folks don't realize that Freddie Mercury played the acoustic guitar on this one. Heck, Brian May barely even got in on the tune, recording his solo after everybody else was done, according to Wikipedia.

What's scary is that "Crazy Little Thing ... " isn't nearly Queen's best tune. Go back to the 1970s and songs like "Killer Queen," which I think is the group's greatest achievement, and you'll get a sense of just how diverse the group's tastes were.

Of course, I suspect Queen's stamp on the music world was primarily driven by Mercury. Surely, nobody plays the guitar like May, and most musicians are familiar with the story behind his homemade instrument. However, Queen was rock-n-roll Broadway; they were all over the place.

Just think about how etched they are into the fabric of pop culture. Take the bass line of "Another One Bites The Dust," possibly the greatest bass riff ever. Take the global recognition of "We Will Rock You," the most popular sports arena anthem of all time, while "We Are The Champions" is also ubiquitous in the world of athletics.

But it's this little rockabilly ditty that set the tone in the early part of the 1980s for originality and catchiness.

No. 4 for 1980: Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen

While Oklahoma State's 45-14 win over Nebraska should be celebrated in central Oklahoma for the big win it was, it will forever be known by most around the country as the loss that spelled the end for coach Bill Callahan.

UNL athletic director Steve Pederson was fired on Monday, and Bill Callahan can't be far behind. In four years, Callahan has improved the Huskers a dab each season, record-wise, but two terrible losses this season supplemented by talk of bad chemistry and a realization that this guy is taking this program nowhere have all but sealed his doom.

Most Oklahoma Sooners fans can empathize with Nebraska.

In the mid-to-late 1990s, OU was so bad that my Nebraska friends -- mostly North Texas Nebraskans in Dallas -- actually had some sympathy for us, saying that it's important for both Big Reds to be good. Of course, Nebraska had so much sympathy that they beat us 69-7 and 73-21, and I recall Cornhuskers fans running through Memorial Stadium in Norman taunting us.

So, you'll understand if I have mixed feelings about Nebraska's demise, and make no mistake: This is a demise. The Cornhuskers are truly a bad football team, and what's worse is that they have quit on their coach, their school and their fans.

On the other hand, I can't blame them.

Bill Callahan came into the Nebraska gig thinking that because he had worked in the NFL that he would be able to apply the culture of his "organization" to a college team with a century of history, from their time as the Bugeaters to the national titles in the 1990s.

He was also a blowhard, calling Sooners' fans "hillbillies" after one of his players assaulted a member of our Ruf/Neks. However, from an insider's perspective, Callahan was hard to like because he failed to embrace or understand a lot of Nebraska's tradition. He failed to win the hearts and souls of high school programs across the state. He failed to comprehend that in college, the goal is to go undefeated because there are no playoffs.

After a 41-40 win over Ball State, Callahan wondered what the big whoop was. Really!? Seriously!?

However, this turkey is old news, and I would like to return the favor to my Nebraska friends, most of whom I haven't seen in ages but a couple of whom I work with right here in Oklahoma City. Here are the five people (plus one bonus) I would recommend to UNL in their quest to find a new coach.

1. Turner Gill. This is a no-brainer given that Gill was a Husker legend in the 1980s. He's done a good job with the Buffalo Bulls, winning three of his first seven this season, an improvement over the first couple of years there.

His big upside is understanding the program. His big downside is that he is unproven as a head coach, and I fear he could be like John Blake in Oklahoma, and that would be a shame. Honestly, I suspect that Gill will be the next head coach in Lincoln, but I don't think I'd go there just yet if I were the guy making the decisions.

2. Jim Leavitt. This guy is the national coach of the year. His South Florida Bulls team is a legitimate contender for a national title, and he is putting himself in position to be one of the great football coaches in college history, literally giving birth to a modern-day giant.

Make no mistake. South Florida is here to stay. They are the new Miami, and I think they're poised for several national title runs over the next 15-20 years and probably a spot in the ACC soon enough. If one looks at successful modern college programs, the best opportunities are in warm weather locations, and Leavitt would be a fool to leave Tampa.

On the other hand, everybody and their dog has been courting him, including Alabama. Including Tennessee. Leavitt's experience at Kansas State -- the miracle in Manhattan -- and with South Florida makes him a candidate I wouldn't even have to interview. I'd send him a contract and a plane.

3. Paul Johnson. This guy has turned around the Naval Academy and done it old style, with a running attack that would give the Husker Nation a giant football woody. This coach is a sleeper, and he'd definitely make the move.

See, I think it's important to have a coach committed to the run in a state that produces big corn-fed linemen. Win enough games, and a decent recruiter will be able to get some big name skill guys.

4. David Cutcliffe. Think about the guys he brought to Mississippi while he was there. Eli Manning. Deuce McAllister. Cutcliffe knows talent when he sees it, and he's widely considered to be one of the very best coordinators in college football. Plus, many thought he got a raw deal at Ole Miss, getting fired for refusing to fire his coordinators.

5. Mike Leach. OK, go ahead and think I'm crazy. However, Leach is a brilliant tactician, a good motivator, and he gets the most out of his talent. Heck, with a win against Missouri this week, he's got his Red Raiders in a decent position to win the Big 12 South.

If Stoops were to ever leave Oklahoma -- heaven forbid -- I would be highly in favor of bringing this pirate to Norman. If nothing else, your Huskers would be able to match OSU's 45 with 48, 49 of their own.

As for my sleeper pick, I'll give you two. Jason Garrett, of the Dallas Cowboys, and Major Applewhite, of the Alabama Crimson Tide -- I think -- are two guys who are poised to become big-time coaches. While I know Major is a Longhorn and that he is young, he's a winner. He's enthusiastic. And, guess what; he actually kind of looks like a young Tom Osborne.

Garrett will more than likely be a pro coach sometime in the next three seasons, but he would be a great out-of-the-box pick for UNL. On the other hand, I wouldn't blame Nebraska if they never ever looked to the NFL for a coach again.

However, I would strongly recommend that the new AD not look to the so-called roster of big names that perennially gets trotted out for college openings. Go find an up-and-coming gem.

The safe pick might be Gill.

The slam-dunk pick is Leavitt.

However, the most interesting pick is Johnson. He runs the ball consistently, and with their crop of corn-fed linemen, Nebraska's the one school that can run the ball and win at a national level. Johnson's turned an academy into a winner, and if nothing else, he seems like he would be a good counter to Callahan.

However, I would agree with my NTN friends from back in the day. It is important for both Big Reds to be good. I don't know why, really. Perhaps, it's the shared history. The mutual respect. So, while I don't mind seeing Nebraska get a whipping now and then, I don't want them to turn into a perennial also-ran either.

If it hadn't been for Garrett Hartley, I would have nailed the OU-Missouri score, having predicted a 45-31 outcome just days before.

Oklahoma's 10-point win did not surprise me in the least. However, I've got some observations from a big Sooners win that leaves even more questions about how good this team is but none about how good they can be.

Bob Stoops' Sooners are still a national title contender.

However, the first-half pass defense blew. Props to Brent Venables and his crew for strapping it on in the second half and getting some pressure on Chase Daniel. However, a smart coach (not Gary Pinkel) will keep going to his top gun until his ears bleed, like Missouri should have done with redshirt freshman Jeremy Maclin.

Instead, Pinkel got cute and decided Maclin should throw the ball, a pass that fell into Reggie Smith's hands.

Speaking of Reggie Smith, am I the only one who thinks this cat is completely, utterly overrated? He reminds me of guys I used to play ball with, particularly when we played 21. They wouldn't hit it hard up near the goal; they'd just lay back for the rebound, try to do too much and not score.

So, while all you OU fans see Reggie picking the ball off and running backwards for a loss of 25 yards before gaining 27 for a net of 2, I see a guy who is failing to live up to Roy Williams' legacy as a hitter. Where are the blitzes? Where are the big hits? Where are the strips? I honestly think this guy is soft and that he'd be happier in an offensive role.

But while I'm being critical, let me tell you what makes me nuts. When he caught that punt at the 3 and tried to return it late in the game on Saturday, particularly given his ability to muff punts (remember Colorado?), did any of the rest of you think Reggie's days as a kick returner should be done.

Well, I do. Give me Dominique Franks, or better yet -- give me DeMarco Murray. Again this week, I question why Murray wasn't in this game more in the second half, giving way to Chris Brown, a player whose running style is even less aesthetically pleasing than Kejuan Jones', although I always loved Jones' spirit and enthusiasm.

Sure, one can't be too unhappy after a 41-31 win over a No. 11 Missouri team, but it's clear to even the most novice of us that there are some glaring issues with this team. Garrett Hartley himself might be the most disappointing among them, and I would have no heartburn if they chose to give another kicker a try. He's killin' us, and if it's the holder's fault, then so be it. Get a new one.

On the upside, I can't say enough about Auston English. He is the defensive MVP of this team by a freaking mile in my book. Again, he was a second-half monster, and he tipped the pass that got picked off late.

I'm also quite high on Curtis Lofton, an Oklahoma boy whose fumble return for a score in the second-half was a momentum winner. And while I haven't completely soured on Smith, D.J. Wolfe, Nic Harris, Marcus Walker, etc., I'm just not impressed.

Fact is, we have a gimme game this week against Iowa State in Ames. There is no way we lose this game, and we might win by 50. So, we might not want to do too much lest somebody get injured, which would really foul us up.

But I would absolutely spend some time shoring up our pass rush and pass coverage because at this moment, I guarantee you that Texas Tech will beat us in Lubbock. That is a promise. They will end any hope we have of a national championship the way we've been playing, and -- guess what -- that loss would end our Big 12 championship hopes, too.

So, LSU and Cal lost. That's great. We're No. 5 in the BCS poll, and South Florida and Boston College are ahead of us, two teams I am pretty sure will lose by the end of the season. Ohio State still has Penn State and Michigan. LSU still plays in the SEC.

Oklahoma has a cake schedule, with the exception of Tech, and a rare, rare opportunity. Whether they can seize it truly depends on their willingness to meet some of their weaknesses eye to eye and deal with them, even if it means some hurt feelings.

Boy, I need to catch up on my Top 10 for 1980, and I will. Promise. There is a Top 4. I mean, it's not like I created a Top 10 list and only filled out the first six places.

Alas, I find myself listening to some prep football on the Web tonight, and no, it's not Muskogee or Henryetta. Unfortunately, with as many sports radio stations as we have in the Oklahoma City area, we don't have nearly enough small-town radio coverage available online.

Texas has its own Web site.

Most of you know that I lived in south Texas for two years, covering the El Campo Ricebirds, who are officially in my circle of favorite prep teams, joining Muskogee and Henryetta. What's odd is that I've seen as many El Campo games live as I saw Henryetta games during my high school days.

Anyway, I don't intend on insulting Oklahoma prep fans because I am among you. However, outside of Union and Jenks, Oklahoma prep football is minor league compared to even average Texas prep football. Going to an El Campo game was like going to small college game, not only in terms of attendance but in terms of tailgating.

The difference isn't THAT big, but it's pronounced. It's definitely what the Major Leagues are to Triple-A. It's not like Oklahoma is Class A ball by comparison; however, El Campo always did it up right, and now they broadcast every game on their Web site.

Every high school in Oklahoma needs to do this, or I should say that every small radio station should be broadcasting prep football and making it available online. It's crazy not to. I mean, the NHL is making their audio broadcasts available online for free. For the first time ever, you can listen to every NBA game online, real time, for free.

It's great for the team, the station, the brand, the whole enchilada.

Of course, not every radio station is equipped with an excellent broadcasting crew. KULP does a terrific job with these games, and even though it's been 12 years since I've even been there, it's amazing that their football broadcasts are essentially the same.

Now, Oklahoma is vastly superior to Texas in terms of broadcasting games on TV. Both Cox and KSBI do a wonderful job covering Oklahoma games, but unfortunately, I don't have time to sit in front of the TV and watch, and they only broadcast one or two games a week.

In Texas, even in my decade in Dallas, I couldn't find anything.

But El Campo was south of the Hill Country, in the Ricebelt, and it's a football savvy, gridiron hungry bunch with warm nights all the way until playoffs begin. Even though it was a ton of work, I have fond memories of driving back from Rosenberg each Saturday morning at about 3 a.m., tired as hell.

And now, I get to relive them thanks to KULP 1390 being a bit more innovative than other small-town stations.

Each week, KOCO's Mark Rodgers makes his prep football predictions with a special guest, somebody at the station -- an anchor, reporter, meteorologist, etc. This week, his challenger is the Web dude. Me.

Watch the fun and yuks right here, and take note of my complete homerism, picking Class 2A No. 5 Henryetta to beat No. 7 Chandler tonight ...

Tonight's blog is fueled by the fine folks at Chicken Express, whose fried delights I sampled for the first time tonight.

Typically, I do not eat much fast food. However, on Thursday night, I grab a little something on the way home, and for the past several weeks it has been fried chicken. Over the years, I had classified fried chicken joints by what they're good at.

KFC has always been great with their cole slaw, and I have always loved their gravy, which Col. Sanders once described as tasting like wallpaper paste.

Popeye's chicken is better than KFC's, and their biscuits are the best in the business.

Now, if I remember right, I never really liked Church's although I came away impressed with their mashed potatoes and gravy once. It was really close to homemade.

However, all three places can kiss it goodbye because one of the 47 million sports radio stations in the OKC metro area (KREF) has Chicken Express as an advertiser. They said they had the best sweet tea in the state, and they noted their Norman location.

Long story short, I had a three-piece combo -- breast, thigh and leg -- with mashed potatoes and gravy, a biscuit and a giant sweet tea.

Their chicken, swear to God, is the closest thing to homemade I have ever had commercially. The crunchy skin actually tore off like homemade fried batter would, and the meat was juicy and not fast-food dry.

Their mashed potatoes aren't quite as good as Church's or KFCs, but they were adequate.

Popeye's biscuit is a dab better than Chicken Express', but one could make a good case for theirs. The bread was thick, battery and tasty.

However, the coup d'etat was the tea. If you've read this blog for long at all, you'd know that my favorite tea is what the fine folks at Mikeska's in El Campo dish out.

This is what Chicken Express has. It is virtually the same recipe, and it is by a mile they best tea I have had in Oklahoma.

Now, I should note that I'm also a big fan of Red Diamond by the jug. However, the folks at Chicken Express will sell you some sweet tea by the jug as well, and I think I'm taking some home over the weekend. I don't want to say for sure that it's as good as Mikeska's until I taste it again, but between their chicken, their bread and their tea, it is by far the standard for fried chicken joints in Oklahoma, at least as far as I know.

***

Quick sports note: Colorado again looked dominating in a 5-1 win over Arizona. Before the playoffs were even set, I told a Boston Red Sox-loving colleague of mine that it would be a Rox-Red Sox World Series and that Boston would win.

However, I think I could be wrong about that. No, not the World Series matchup. The winner. The Rockies, knock on wood because I'm enjoying the heck out of it, are putting on a playoff clinic, and it is empirical proof that offensive clubs in parks where balls carry can win.

Are my Texas Rangers paying attention?

Colorado isn't winning games 13-11. They're winning 4-2 and 5-1 and 2-1, and their middle relief has been out of this world.

Of course, I also think the Rockies have been incredibly fortunate so far. If San Diego manager Bud Black had just kept that wild lefty Thatcher in the game, the Padres would likely be playing the D-Backs in the NLCS.

It's what for now makes them look like a team of destiny.

Confidentially
© 2007, Ryan Welton

Verse 1:
Girl, you got a secret?
Won't you please reveal it?
You got my word that I'm a trusting man ...

I have drinks with world leaders
evangelical true believers
If they can trust me, baby you can ...

Pre-hook:
Whisper in my ear
So no one else can hear
Tell me confidentially ...

Chorus:
Cringe as I shout it through my window
Scream as I profess it from the streets
Shudder in anguish as I leave you here to languish
Now they know what I knew ...
That you gotta thing for me

Verse 2:
Verbal aside, I can read your body language
Your shouting's hurtin my eyes

Take it in stride, I don't need the affirmation
No need to wear a disguise

Pre-hook:
Whisper in my ear
So no one else can hear
Tell me confidentially ...

Chorus:
Cringe as I shout it through my window
Scream as I profess it from the streets
Shudder in anguish as I leave you here to languish
Now they know what I knew ...
That you gotta thing for me

Bridge:
Just so you know
I ain't plannin' on leavin' you hanging
I'll let you know where I stand

But you're so sexy
I like it when you're near me
And it don't matter to me who knows


Pre-hook:
Whisper in my ear
So no one else can hear
Tell me confidentially ...

Chorus:
Cringe as I shout it through my window
Scream as I profess it from the streets
Shudder in anguish as I leave you here to languish
Now they know what I knew ...
That you gotta thing for me

You'd think four days after an OU victory over Texas in the Cotton Bowl that the Sooner Nation would be riding high -- national championship possibility in tact, conference championship likely, etc.

But, no, Oklahoma feels like it got out of Dallas by the skin of its teeth, beating a really bad Texas team by only 7. The game was on ESPN U again tonight, and I have to say it's way different watching the game knowing we're going to win, and I came away a bit more impressed with the win.

OU should understand. They have something very special in Sam Bradford. He reminds me less of Jason White and more of Troy Aikman. He is extremely accurate.

But I know why OU fans are hesitant to get too excited about anything right now. The Sooners' pass defense sucks, and we again question Brent Venables' ability to put the whole thing together. What makes OU's pass defense really scary is that Oklahoma, right now, doesn't have a great pass rush. If it weren't for Auston English and Alonzo Dotson, we might have none. Right now, the rush is weak. Sure, we hurried Colt McCoy last week, but Texas' offensive line is one of the worst we'll face the rest of the year.

So, it points to a loss against No. 11 Mizzou, right? The Tigers run a spread offense, the best we will have seen, and their tight ends are the best we will have faced.

It's a gut check, no doubt. But Oklahoma is 8-0 after Texas under Bob Stoops, and like I said last week, up against the wall, there is literally nobody better. I don't know that Oklahoma will come close to covering a 20-point spread, but I do think the Sooners will win going away at home, 45-31.

While Billy Joel was known as the 'piano man,' some of his absolute best work came sans keys, and oddly enough, the song at No. 5 on my list of best hit songs from 1980 is probably one of the better guitar rock-n-roll songs of all time.

It's "You May Be Right," and it has the feel of a Stones classic.

And what's made me appreciate Joel so much over the years is his willingness to change up his styles. He has more creative eras than Picasso, and his era -- if you will -- in the early 1980s with songs like "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me" were tinged in pop-fueled punk.

Furthermore, if you look at the way Joel dressed back in the day, if you were to see that on a band nowadays, they would be considered uber-indie. Joel in 1980 looks like the lead singer of a band like "The Strokes" or "Interpol" or some such. In other words, even his look was influential.

I'm not so sure this song has a giant place in pop culture history, but Joel's ability to pull it off with excellence proved 100 percent that he didn't have to be confined behind a piano.

No. 5, "You May Be Right" - Billy Joel

Simply amazing. One of the greatest Monday Night games ever, and if you're not fired up about those Dallas Cowboys now, I'm not sure what it'll take.

Here's the video that everybody is talking about today.

A heck of a sports weekend culminated Monday night in Dallas' amazing 25-24 win over Buffalo on Monday Night Football.

Yes, for those of you who turned the game off with :20 left, I said a "win."

How amazing was this game? Dallas did not lead the game once during its 60 minutes but still won. Seriously, until the clock read 0:00, Dallas did not lead. Freaking amazing.

Alongside a game against the New York Giants a few years ago, again on Monday night, this game at Rich Stadium (do they still call it that) in Buffalo was possibly the most exciting regular-season Cowboys game ever. It had everything.

Interceptions. Thanks to Tony Romo, Dallas managed four of them in the first half and five overall. Romo was terrible, but he was clutch. Folks compare him to Brett Favre, and it's because he's a gunslinger. At the end of the game, when you need him the most, he's your man.

Special teams. Buffalo ran a kickoff back for 103 yards.

Down 24-16 after having squandered a chance to tie the game earlier, Romo led Dallas to a TD to make it 24-22 with like a half-minute left. For the two-point conversion, Romo threw it to Terrell Owens, and the defensive back gingerly swatted it from Owens' hands.

Let me say something here. Owens is a specimen, no doubt. However, he is an all-or-nothing receiver, and frankly, he's not all that great. He's not a good possession guy. He's not clutch. He's good for a few remarkable catches per game or perhaps to blow by the guy covering him.

However, I saw Owens bust butt running down some guys after several of Romo's interceptions, so I don't question the guy's heart. And this Cowboys team is full of heart. After the failed two-point conversion, Dallas got an onside kick, converted a couple of sideline routes and went for a game-winning field goal.

Dallas' Nick Folk kicked that winning field goal only to have the referees say that Bills' coach Dick Jauron called timeout. In what has to be the worst NFL rule in existence, coaches can call timeout right as the play is being snapped. It's a crappy, crappy rule, and it smacks of dirty pool.

Nevertheless, Folk came back out and hit the game winner, and like I noted before, gave Dallas its first lead of the game after time had run out.

Perhaps this blog needs to be divided between music and pop culture and sports. This is when my holy season begins, with the baseball playoffs coming to a head, the NFL getting good, college football at its peak, the NHL and NBA getting under way.

If you'll forgive my cyber-meandering until I get this right, I think I'll try to make this puppy about 50-50 sports and topics centering on the 1980s and 1970s, pop culture-wise. It makes for an odd blog, I suppose, but I'll kind of keep an eye on my stats to see what you guys are reading most and go from there.

I would be remiss though if I didn't make a couple observations about the Bills.

First, love the unis. One of the best looking uniforms in the NFL.

Second, this is a bad Buffalo team. Dallas played as bad as it could and still won. Buffalo scored two TDs on Romo interceptions and another on a kickoff, meaning they only manage three offensive points.

Trent Edwards got his shot at quarterback for Buffalo because the late, great Bill Walsh talked him up when he was a quarterback at Stanford. Look, Edwards wasn't that bad, but I have to think Walsh's sentiment was merely wishful thinking because I knew after one game that Tony Romo was the real deal.

I'm pretty sure that Oklahoma's Sam Bradford is the real deal.

But I don't know that I would even recognize Edwards if I saw him play again. Not a knock, just me saying I wasn't all that impressed. On the other hand, I was very impressed with Marshawn Lynch, and I think Jauron would have been better served using him late in the game, up by 8.

Of course, I'm very glad he didn't.

Before I return to the world of 1980s pop music, allow me to reflect on Oklahoma's big Red River Rumble victory, 28-21, over Texas.

And before I delve into some details of the game as well as my outlook for the game, which I posted on Thursday of last week, let's look back to a blog post from Aug. 7 and, specifically, the first two paragraphs.

He doesn't quite have Adrian Peterson's breakaway speed, but he's quicker than A.D. He can cut like Reggie, and he's likely (almost certainly) the next huge OU star.


Let the Demarco Murray era begin for the Sooners.

While Murray had some shining moments in OU's first five games, he didn't become a star until Saturday, when he leaped over Joe Jon Finley en route to a 65-yard touchdown in the third quarter against Texas.

The OU-Texas game makes stars -- and both Sam Bradford and DeMarco Murray elevated themselves on Saturday. Of course, if I'm to be fair, a critical look at OU's play this season, particularly against Colorado last week, suggests that perhaps Murray has been under-utilized.

However, with the way this college football season has turned out (wacky), I think I'll cut everybody a break. No, I absolutely still think -- even after the win -- that coach Bob Stoops would be well advised to develop more creative game plans. Why he doesn't really baffles me.

On the other hand, the Sooners just excelled with everything Saturday on a physical level. They tackled well. They blocked well. They ran good routes.

Mentally, Oklahoma still has some issues. First, our pass coverage is pretty porous, and I think I know the culprit: Ryan Reynolds. The one question I would have loved to ask Mack Brown after the game was, "Why did you guys stop throwing to Jermichael Finley in the second half?"

See, everytime Colt McCoy threw inside to Finley, he'd not only be wide open, he'd run off for 20, 30, 50 yards. Who's to blame? Reynolds. A major, major defensive weakness was exposed for OU on Saturday, and while I compared him physically to Rocky Calmus last Thursday, I have major reservations about this guy right now.

On the other hand, while I questioned offensive lineman Phil Loadholdt and his ability to pancake guys half his size, he played splendidly on Saturday, handling tackle Frank Okam pretty well. In fact, Oklahoma ran quite well to the left side of the line, including on Murray's 65-yard scamper.

My contention before the game was that Oklahoma had to run the ball well to win. The announcers said whoever ran the best would win. While running the ball effectively as an analysis is common-sense, it was extra important in this game given OU's lack of pass defense and the issues Oklahoma had last week throwing the ball.

On Thursday, I said that if McCoy had success throwing the ball early, we'd be in trouble. And I think being tied 21-21 in the fourth quarter against a clearly inferior club constitutes trouble. On the other hand, we pressured McCoy just enough to cause Texas problems.

By no means do I think the Sooners are a great pass-rushing defense. However, I do think they hurry other offenses into making hasty decisions, which can often be "good enough." Auston English is clearly Oklahoma's pass rushing stud, although Alonzo Dotson ain't chopped liver. Oklahoma sacked Colt McCoy four times, including twice late in the game.

Sam Bradford got Malcolm Kelly involved. We thought that perhaps Kelly was wearing an invisible cloak last week in Colorado, but Kelly's success this week is thanks to Juaquin Iglesias and Jermaine Gresham, who was huge for OU. If those guys don't catch the ball, defenses can totally double-team Kelly.

Speaking of Bradford, it's too early to don him with too many superlatives, but he looks every bit as good as Jason White did early in his career. And, he looks miles better than Rhett Bomar did early in his.

With USC's and Wisconsin's losses, OU moved up to No. 6, totally in the national championship chase.

What makes Oklahoma super scary right now is that they can hang around with any team, period. I can't envision a scenario in which they'd get blown out by anybody on a neutral field. At the L.A. Coliseum, I could absolutely see USC beating us 38-17, but on a neutral field, I could see OU hanging with or edging the Trojans.

Could OU beat LSU right now? Well, which LSU team comes to play? If it's the one who barely beat Florida on Saturday night, OU could hang. And that's all we as fans can ask for, a chance to win every game.

Missouri comes to Norman next week with a spread offense, a great quarterback and a real challenge for the Sooners' defense. However, OU at home is a vastly different team than the one on the road. If you're asking me, Oklahoma's best chance for a second loss comes in Lubbock, against Texas Tech or in a Big 12 title game.

And if you look at the schedule, the current rankings, etc., OU still has a great chance to play in the national title game. However, even with the big win against Texas, I still say that OU cannot rest on its talent and physicality.

In a college football world that is more and more becoming even-steven among the Top 50 programs, Oklahoma has to become as mentally dominating as it can be physically. That means better game-planning and more creative play-calling. More tricks. More misdirection. The coaching staff needs to sit down in front of a Sony PlayStation and pick up a few ideas for times when they're up against the wall.

Not that we can't win out as we are. Like I said, when the chips are down, Bob Stoops is at his best. Who would have thought we could win the Big 12 last year with Rhett Bomar gone? However, when everything is going swimmingly, we are absolutely susceptible, and I don't think it's an insult at all to suggest that Stoops and his staff learn a few new tricks -- just in case they need to use them.

Why? It's not every year that Oklahoma has a real shot at a national title, and if we win out, we'll be national champs. Take it to the bank.

Perhaps it's merely a coincidence, but I haven't blogged about OU-Texas -- the Red River Rivalry -- before the game, that is, since 2004.

That's the last time the Sooners won, and they did so 12-0 in what was possibly the most boring Red River Rumble in my memory.

However, the OU-Texas series (or Texas-OU if you hail from the Lone Star State) is as exciting as it gets. For me, it's the most important game of the year outside of a national championship game, if Oklahoma is lucky enough to play in one.

I've seriously considered this. Is it more important to me for OU to beat Texas or to win a Big 12 title game? Logic dictates that it should be the conference title game everytime, but so much about this series determines each team's fate even beyond the season.

The winner of Saturday's OU-Texas game will have the inside track on a bunch of Texas high school studs.

The winner of Saturday's contest will have the inside track to a Big 12 South championship, as long as the winner can beat the winner between Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. Done deal, particularly if it's OU because the Sooners get both Ag schools in Norman.

However, the 2007 matchup is one that most pundits agree should end in an Oklahoma win, perhaps even a rout. The Harmon Forecast says OU 34, Texas 20. The boys with CBS.sportsline.com all say OU wins this game. Even with a loss apiece, common football sense dictates that Oklahoma wins this game, perhaps handily.

Before the loss to Colorado, OU was a machine. Texas has struggled all year, particularly on their offensive line. But none of that means a thing in this game.

The team with the more experienced quarterback (Texas) in this game has won 34 of the last 45. The team ranked higher (Oklahoma) has won 42 of the last 55.

What gives?

In Norman, there is a divide among Sooners fans who believe that Bob Stoops' game plan was ultra vanilla against Colorado and those who believe that criticism directed toward Big Game Bob is ludicrous given his success.

I can see both sides. Heck, go to YouTube and look up Oklahoma games from 1999, 2000 and even 2003, and the Sooners were creative. End-arounds. Shovel passes. Hooks and laterals. Fake punts. Fake field goals.

Ever since Mike Stoops left for Arizona, the OU defense -- they say -- hasn't attacked the line of scrimmage like it used to. Go back to 2001 and Roy Williams' famous leap, one which Mike Stoops discouraged Roy from doing, by the way. Nevertheless, OU was a blitz machine, and they weren't shy about allowing their corners and safeties to man up.

But times have changed in Oklahoma in this sense. Expectations are so high that the OU community is a tad polarized. Anything less than a win, or perhaps a blowout win, and the doomsayers come out, suggesting we fire Brent Venables or Kevin Wilson or even questioning where Bob Stoops has lost a step.

On the other hand, such a great program has been rebuilt under Big Game Bob that he's taken to being defensive about any criticism.

However, rarely has Stoops so readily acknowledged he was outcoached in a football game as he did after OU's 27-24 loss to Colorado last weekend. Whether it was when Stoops first arrived in Norman or after losses in the past, if OU had the players, the Sooners always play great after a game in which Bob's coaching or his staff's coaching comes into question.

I'll be honest. I'm both a critic and a fan of Bob Stoops. On one hand, I think he's lost his gunslinger mentality, one that Boise State's Chris Petersen so deftly demonstrated in last season's Fiesta Bowl win over OU.

But Stoops has the better players most of the time, so I follow his logic regarding playing the game at a base level and letting physicality win out.

On the other hand, overly critical OU fans say, "When's the last time we won a close game on the road?"

Hello. Texas A&M last year, going for it on 4th down deep in our own territory.

Clint Ingram's interception against Oregon in the 2005 Holiday Bowl.

What about Oklahoma's past two wins in Stillwater?

To criticize Oklahoma's ability to gut it up in close games is unfounded. However, to say that the Sooners have played tight in big games the past three or four seasons is absolutely appropriate.

In the fourth quarter at Colorado, OU was wound as tight as a nun in a convent. Against Boise State and even LSU four years ago, I recall watching a conservative game plan get waylaid by teams and coaches with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Now, the 2007 edition of the Longhorns aren't in that position. For both teams, a second conference loss spells not only the end of any national title hopes, but BCS and conference title aspirations go bye-bye.

We look at the beating Texas QB Colt McCoy has taken the past few weeks, having been injured in each of the last three games, and we automatically think Oklahoma has an advantage. Well, our defense hasn't exactly been the blitzing sort since Venables took over, which on the good side means we can focus our defensive resources on pass coverage but on the bad side means we have to stop other teams from throwing and hope that they're not able to rush the ball past our defensive linemen.

Last week, once Colorado established the pass, they were able to run all over us, and I look for Texas to come out throwing and hoping. If they're able to connect early and often, Oklahoma is in trouble.

Texas is not Tulsa, and even though they've struggled, they have great talent at skill positions. And while I don't think Colt McCoy is the second coming of Major Applewhite, he's got more experience than Sam Bradford.

No Oklahoma freshman quarterback has ever won this game, and like I noted, the team with the more experienced signal-caller wins more than three of four OU-Texas games.

Are you nervous now?

On the other hand, Texas has been bitten by both the injury bug and by the court of law, with several Longhorns standouts awaiting trial or off the team for various violations. On the Oklahoma side of the ball, I don't think you can overplay the loss of defensive end John Williams. The guy was becoming a monster before his injury.

While Oklahoma's offensive line has been great the first several weeks of the season, there is one glaring hole on the left side. At 6 feet 8 inches tall and 350 pounds, junior college transfer Phil Loadholdt -- you'd think -- would be a force.

However, clubs have started blitzing to his side of the ball because he lets more people by him than the American border patrol. His center of gravity is way too high, and stocky defensive ends or linebackers can knock his big butt down far too easily.

But if you think I'm of the belief that Texas will come out and whip us on Saturday, you're wrong.

We have the best player on the field in Malcolm Kelly.

We have the best kicker in Garrett Hartley.

By far, we have the best tight ends in Jermaine Gresham, Joe Jon Finley and the unheralded Brody Eldridge.

Our fullback, Dane Zaslaw, is a J.D. Runnels starter kit.

Ryan Reynolds reminds one of Rocky Calmus, and Auston English reminds me of a less stocky Kelly Gregg.

Texas has a versatile quarterback in McCoy, a guy who plays a lot like Cody Hawkins at Colorado. And, they have Jamal Charles, who will absolutely be the best running back on the field on Saturday. Oklahoma can't forget about Limas Sweed though, although Kansas State held Sweed to 14 yards on two catches.

However, the Longhorns are likely to come out looser this Saturday. They have won the past two seasons. They got creamed last week, and everybody and their dog, except those boys in the locker room, think Texas is doomed to lose this Red River Showdown.

And that's why I offer you my game plan for an OU victory this Saturday. Take it for what you will. I never played the game. I have never coached it. The only thing I can say I have done is watch a ton of football and play a ton of sports video games, which makes me like every other Joe Fan in the country.

1. First and foremost, Oklahoma has to be able to run the ball. My recommendation is to focus on running toward the right side of the offensive line. However, switch it up.

Handoff some of the time. Sweep it on other plays. Use the counter. The draw. Don't be afraid to option pitch on a 3rd and 1. The issue is that repetition breeds predictability, and a defense can start timing plays, which Colorado absolutely did against us last week.

2. Run the end around to Malcolm Kelly. Get him the ball in any way you can, and that includes the old play Curtis Fagan used to run in the early Stoops days, where the receiver would go in motion and get the ball as soon as he crossed the quarterback.

Put Kelly in the slot. Line him up at tight end. Line him up as the punter. Get him the ball.

3. Reserve play action for times when deception is really needed. We're doing it way too much. I might go play action deep on the first play of the game and then hold it back until the second quarter. I think we're much more effective a passing team out of the shotgun.

4. Go to a tight end at least once every 10 plays, which should mean about eight touches for the game. Go to them on third down.

5. Give me a gadget play once a half. Hook and lateral. Fake punt. Halfback pass. DeMarco Murray at quarterback. Something.

6. I want to see Keith Nichol in this game at least three times to do nothing but run a quarterback draw. Sorry to steal it from Florida, but Oklahoma would be wise to use this guy like they did Tim Tebow last year. He has great legs. Use them.

7. Blitz on first down every once in awhile. Texas will look to keep OU off-balance by throwing it on first down, and we should look to keep the Horns off-balance. If nothing else, give Texas blitz looks just to keep them guessing.

8. Don't be afraid to strip the ball. Just take it. Rip it from their hands.

9. Don't be afraid to commit pass interference when your man has you beat. In college, it's still only a 15-yard penalty.

10. Play gutsy in the return game. This is one area where I don't fault the Sooners. Sure, Reggie Smith should have held on to the ball against Colorado late in the game on Saturday, but Stoops has said he might spell the defender with Murray or Dominique Franks late. We have a definite advantage in the return game, and we should not be afraid to go for it.

11. Forget the trash talk. Save it for when the other team is demoralized.

12. Last but not least, don't be afraid to completely change the game plan if in the second quarter we're down 21-7 or 14-3 or whatever. The OU-Texas game, more than half the time, is not a close one. Little leads become big gaps really fast. The team that leads at the half almost always wins, so the team slowest to adjust will lose on Saturday.

With that said, what do I think will happen?

A close examination of most relevant stats, with the exception of the one that says the higher-ranked team wins more than 80 percent of the time, suggests Texas wins its third straight over OU. Heck, in this series, you can almost just pick the team that won it last year and be right almost 80 percent of the time.

However, while Big Game Bob got his nickname from stepping it up in games that counted the most in his early years at OU, most recently, it has been earned by stepping it up after a performance that sends fans to their collective ledges.

In fact, backs against the wall, when everybody's down on him or the team or his coordinators, Stoops is absolutely at his best. And all things being equal, Bob Stoops is still a damned good coach.

I love OU in this game and love them to cover the spread. Oklahoma wins 45-20.

For those of you who have rummaged through the first four of my Top 10 for 1980, No. 6 might come as a surprise.

However, let me explain.

I've always had a musical soft spot for rootsy rock-n-rollers, singer-songwriters and folk artists. Heck, I enjoy country acts like Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, Kris Kristofferson and the like, too. However, perhaps my favorite mainstream rootsy rocker has always been Tom Petty.

He's not a particularly good singer, and he sure didn't succeed on his looks. However, he's a solid songwriter, both musically and lyrically, a great musician and a socially-conscious artist, having worked to combat the music industry and mainstream radio.

Even though the 57-year-old rocker from Gainesville, Florida, was most popular in the 1980s, he's still going strong, and he commands a loyal fan base and sold-out shows. However, in 1980, he peaked at No. 15 with a song that I personally think is one of the great rock songs of a generation.

With an organ solo that is among the best ever -- eat your heart out, Deep Purple -- "Refugee" ended the year at No. 100 for 1980, according to Billboard magazine. So, last night, I featured the top song of 1980, and tonight, I give you the song that came in at No. 100.

For a bonus video, since we're on the theme of rootsy rockers, I offer an obscure tune from a guy once tabbed as the modern Bob Dylan. Steve Forbert's song, "Romeo's Tune," peaked at No. 11 in 1980, and did earn a spot on the year-end chart.

While Forbert's career has truly taken the obscure singer-songwriter road, I thought it would be a nice complement to Petty's hit from 17 years ago.

No. 6 for 1980: "Refugee," by Tom Petty.

Bonus video: "Romeo's Tune," by Steve Forbert.

So far, our look at the year 1980 in pop music has included a hit best known for its kitsch, a hit best known for its guitar lick and a hit that has been covered from here to Dubai.

However, even the most lenient music fan would agree that Rupert Holmes, George Benson (the pop version, not the high priest of jazz guitar) and Ambrosia have hardly been influential as artists, even if their songs hold a pop culture place in music history.

Well, our song at No. 7 is by a band whose place in history, relative to influence, is unquestioned. It's Blondie and their 1980 No. 1 smash, "Call Me," the biggest hit of the year, according to Billboard magazine.

The band was fronted by Debbie Harry, a Playboy Club Bunny back in the 1970s. And while nowadays that might automatically mean subpar music, Blondie's brand of pop was at once mainstream and cutting-edge. They circumvented both punk and new wave styles while being pop all at the same time.

And while Blondie was a successful band (four No. 1 hits in America), it was Harry who was the star. She was certainly an influence on Madonna's and Gwen Stefani's looks, if nothing else. However, she is also a substantive influence on every female-fronted rock band of the modern era.

Furthermore, her hit "Rapture" is widely considered to be the first mainstream rap song ever.

After topping the charts with "Heart of Glass" a couple years before "Call Me," Blondie proceeded to top them with "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture." The reggae Tide was virtually ubiquitous on American radio in 1981.

Every other song, it seemed, was "The Tide Is High."

However, in my opinion, "Call Me" is Blondie's calling card, pleasing rock fans, pop fans, alternative fans -- all of them. And for that reason, I've placed this tune at No. 7 on my Top 10 chart for 1980.

Tonight's bonus video is the aforementioned "The Tide Is High," all thanks to the wonderful content producers in the YouTube community.

No. 7 for 1980: "Call Me," by Blondie.

Bonus video: "The Tide Is High," by Blondie.

Wanted to take a break from my look at the best chart hits of 1980s because the baseball playoffs are upon us.

Now, I don't intend to try to convince people who hate baseball how great the game is, but those of us who love it know exactly why. It's brawn and brains, strategy and physicality, and it's tradition.

However, for most of us over 30, it was the first sport we ever saw on TV or live. It was probably the first game we ever played in an organized fashion, and so baseball brings back a lot of childhood memories.

But baseball is also the most mathematical of all sports. What other game can you watch while maintaining a detailed sheet full of stats and notes simply for the sake of going through the process of recording it?

I'll admit that I don't watch near enough baseball during the regular season. I might have watched 20 full games this season, but I probably caught 60 partials. However, once the postseason gets here, I'm all about it.

And tonight, the team I've donned as 2007's club of destiny -- the Colorado Rockies -- came back from an 8 to 6 deficit in the bottom of the 13th to beat San Diego in a one-game playoff 9 to 8.

It was a four-hour game, and none of it was boring. In fact, I'm so jacked right now, I'll have a hard time sleeping. No, I'm not a Rockies fan, but given that I'm a Rangers fan, I feel for these guys, never having won it. And Todd Helton, one of baseball's great people getting his chance in the playoffs is terrific. And Matt Holliday is from Oklahoma, so there's a hometown tie-in, even if he is a Poke.

However, more than that, they truly have a team-of-destiny feel. If tonight's comeback didn't prove it, I don't know what will. Then again, they do have a series or two to win to even get to the World Series.

And it only gets tougher from here.

Just ask the 1986 Mets, who absolutely had a team-of-destiny look only to be down three games to two in their Series against Boston. By now, any novice baseball fan knows what happened in the bottom of the 10th in Game 6.

Calvin Schiraldi (Longhorn). Mookie Wilson. Bill Buckner. Ray Knight.

It was the most exciting finish to a World Series game I had ever seen, although I've seen some really great ones -- Joe Carter, Kirk Gibson, Luis Gonzalez, Edgar Renteria, and the best World Series game of all time, Minnesota's 1-0 win over Atlanta in Game 7 of the 1991 fall classic (I pulled for the Braves.).

However, you can't find these on YouTube anymore. Danged MLB copyright police.

But an enterprising soul on MySpace (and YouTube, I do believe), who goes by the name "Jaime," recreated Game 6's famous 10th inning ... with Vin Scully's television call and Nintendo.

This is incredible stuff, and an amazing job by this guy. It's fun to watch and even more amazing that he was able to recreate it using a simplistic video game. Enjoy.