Have you ever entered a contest you knew you wouldn't win, you knew you didn't win, only to have the pain of losing *sting* months later when you get the official notification?

That's sort of like how University of Oklahoma football fans felt on Wednesday after the NCAA levied its punishment on the Sooners' football team. We knew it was coming, but we weren't sure how bad it would be.

The NCAA decided the Sooners would lose a pair of scholarships each in 2008 and 2009 -- not a big deal when you consider a major college football team gets 85 scholarships. However, a couple of key position injuries could render us daydreaming about scholarships lost.

Some coaching recruitment capabilities were lessened. Not a big deal when you're the University of Oklahoma football program. What, are we in a "building-awareness" sort of marketing campaign? Players want to come here.

Our probation was lengthened to 2010, which is nothing as long as the Sooners behave. The university hired a ton more compliance officials after the 2005-06 investigation surrounding Rhett Bomar and J.D Quinn. The summation of the investigation was this: Bomar and Quinn did little or no work at a Norman car dealership and were paid well more than what they earned.

This is a no-no, although their $8,000 or so is nothing compared to the $100,000 Reggie Bush was given at USC. I've read that Bush was given up to $300,000, actually, but after about the first hundred Gs, it's all paper, right?

Remember that Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith did the same thing Bomar and Quinn did. He not only was not kicked off the team; he was welcomed back with open arms, leading the Buckeyes to the national championship game this past year.

I don't present an "everybody does it" defense, though. What I would suggest is that Oklahoma should get a few snaps in the court of popular opinion for doing the right thing and booting Bomar and Quinn off the team. OU even reported the offense themselves, something virtually nobody does within the NCAA and something I don't believe will be happening again considering the NCAA's smackdown on Oklahoma and their virtual pass, so far, given to USC.

However, the punishment Oklahoma received that has Sooners fans all abuzz is the vacating of 2005 wins. Note that it was not a forfeiture. The Sooners do not now lose the games they won; instead, on our slate, they never happened. In the record books of opponents, all games -- wins and losses -- happened. This affects our opponents not whatsoever.

So, the record book will show OU went 0-4 in 2005 instead of 8-4. However, c'mon. How many people, sitting around over beers, discussing the OU-Nebraska game from 2005 will say, "Remember when OU beat the Huskers 31-24 in a game that never existed?"

Like my colleague (and OU sideline reporter) Mark Rodgers said in a video we shot impromptu at about 2:30 p.m., the NCAA's punishment is more about the psyche of fans than it is the program itself. In other words, the NCAA's decision would bother us more than it would dramatically affect the football team.

He's right. Oklahoma football is on fine footing for 2007, prepped to be one of the more interesting Sooners teams in the last several. Its fans though are a bit perturbed, reminded of the mistakes Bomar and Quinn made, reminded of the NCAA's dim view of Oklahoma historically and probably embarrassed.

In Norman, there are two camps of extreme positions: Those who believe the football team does no wrong and those who believe the football team does no right, and both camps are extremely annoying. Frankly, the latter is more annoying because their position is founded upon negativity, while the position of the former is misplaced optimism.

There are those who believe Oklahoma was actually guilty of plenty more (Adrian Peterson and a Lexus), and to those folks, I'd point to the evidence, which says there was nothing else. It's not like the NCAA wasn't looking for anything they could find.

There are those who are scared for their own teams, scared that if their institution self-reports a violation that it wouldn't result in any leniency ... and there are those who celebrate the NCAA's decision because they hate OU. In other words, Wednesday's NCAA decision seemed to have gotten everybody all worked up in a lather.

And, really, when you examine the nuts, bolts, everything -- it just isn't a big deal as long as we behave for three more years. The worst of the punishment was totally expected, and the vacating of the wins, from a practical perspective, is completely irrelevant. I didn't even celebrate the 17-14 Oklahoma Holiday Bowl win over Oregon the night it happened.

I took a dump and went to bed. I was completely bored by the game until the final two minutes, and then I was happy for Clint Ingram, seemingly a good kid who made the biggest play of his career that night. The most excitement I took from the game was the fact that I got to watch the game in HD.

Now, there are some serious issues the University of Oklahoma should examine.

First and foremost, I do think President David Boren should consider dismissing the current compliance director, whoever served during Bomar's time at the university. Somebody clearly wasn't doing his or her job. Somebody internally should be held accountable. Somebody should lose his or her job.

Second, I could care less that Big Red Sports & Imports isn't associated with Brad McRae anymore. The University of Oklahoma should cease any and all relationship with that business forever. Actually, I think it has, but I mean no ties. No sponsorships. Not now, not ever again.

In fact, OU should just make it an internal policy that athletes can only work certain places -- like fast food joints. Restaurants. Retail.

However, I'm not one who believes cheating has been rampant at OU the past several years. Truth is, a couple of bad players got caught doing wrong. They were dismissed. OU was punished. Life goes on.

We'll still likely beat or do better than your team this year.