Big Stories from Camp

Yesterday, within the span of a just a few minutes between 12:45 and 1:00, two pretty significant sports stories involving Sooner broke. One was really nice news, and the other made Corby briefly consider suicide.

#1: Roy Williams signs fat extension with Cowboys …The Boys had to do this. And they wanted to do this. I certainly recognize that he has flaws, and I also wonder about paying him Ed Reed money, but all in all, the Cowboys now do not have to consider life without him until 2011.

To those who believe safety Roy Williams is overrated, the Cowboys say...something that can't be printed in a family newspaper.

On Wednesday, the Cowboys made Williams one of the top paid safeties in the NFL when they signed him to a five-year deal that includes a four-year contract extension.

The deal includes an $11.1 million signing bonus, the largest in NFL history for a safety. The contract, which includes a restructuring of his 2006 salary, runs through the 2010 season and could be worth as much as $25.2 million.

"I am going to be a Cowboy for life," said Williams, who has been to the Pro Bowl three times. "There is no doubt about it. I'm staying here."

The Cowboys had been in talks with Williams for the past month, trying to establish where he fit financially with the game's best safeties, most notably Baltimore Ravens star Ed Reed.

The Cowboys decided Williams is either above, or right next to, Reed.

Rather than risk Williams becoming a free agent after next season or possibly having to apply the franchise tag, they paid him big now.

Below, please find Roy’s highlight video from his days in Norman.



Norman? That reminds me of major sports story #2 from yesterday….

The Metroplex’s Rhett Bomar gets himself sacked from Oklahoma …This made Aggie and Longhorn very happy, but Sooner is freaking out with a road trip to Oregon about a month away…

Bomar apparently filed for 40-hour work weeks at a Norman, Okla., auto dealership, making up to $18,000, when he only worked 5 hours a week, Schad reported.

The car dealership in question is Big Red Sports/Imports in Norman, Okla., reports Schlabach. When contacted by phone, the person answering referred requests to attorney Jeffrey Atkins of Oklahoma City. The dealership is part of the Sooner Schooner Car Program, which supplies vehicles to coaches and athletic department officials.

Atkins said during a telephone interview Wednesday that Bomar or "any other OU athlete" hadn't worked at the dealership since March. The dealership was sold by former owners Mike Donohue and Brad McRae in April to David Hudiburg, whose family owns several car dealerships in the Oklahoma City area.

"Not a single OU athlete has been employed by the new ownership," Atkins said. "Unfortunately, we're catching the brunt of the criticism and we have none of the documents or information. We're in a bad situation."

Atkins said he didn't know what Bomar's job duties were at the dealership.
Hudiburg told reporters that the dealership had received negative telephone calls Wednesday about the controversy.

"They're blaming us," he said of the callers. "We've been there four months and we're not in any way responsible. If they're mad, they can't be mad at us."

In April, Oklahoma cleared standout running back Adrian Peterson, who purchased a vehicle from the dealership before securing financing, drove it for several weeks and then returned the car. Oklahoma investigated the situation, but ruled Peterson did not violate rules because the dealership said it was normal business practice.

Oklahoma Columnist drops the smackdown on Rhett …

Knucklehead.

Harsh words for a 21-year-old, but proper. The same description doesn’t apply to J.D. Quinn, Bomar’s partner in time. Offensive linemen aren’t depended on like a starting quarterback. Offensive linemen don’t stroll down the same crimson carpet while gridironing as Sooners.

OU quarterbacks enjoy a cushy ride. They are set up often for life. To whom much is given, much is required. Bomar sacrificed his Oklahoma, and who knows what else, future, not to mention the trust of his teammates, when he took the shortcut of booster money.

Since September, Bomar twice was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol. Once was outside his Norman home; once was in front of 19,000 Hornet fans at the Ford Center. The latter incident meant Bomar is either incredibly stupid, which I don’t think is the case, or else he believes the rules don’t apply to him. Now, I think that is the case.

That invincibility paid off for Bomar on the field. He lowered his helmet and fired passes into crowds and played football the way Tony Stewart drives. With flair and with passion and with no restraints. He followed no rules.
And it blew up on Stoops.

Baseball time: The Rangers new pitchers (Eaton and Wells) get the Rangers headed back in the right direction (with plenty of help from the bats) in Minnesota. Now, it is 13 games in a row against the AL West. Here are the standings this morning:

Team…...W…...L….GB
Oakland 57 – 51 ---
Anaheim 55 – 52 1.5
Texas…. 54 - 54 3
Seattle..53 - 54 3.5

Let’s check back 2 weeks from today after the Rangers play exclusively this division. August 17th will speak volumes about whether this team is still the dictionary definition of average (81-81) or whether the moves at the deadline has elevated this team to post-season worthy.

Evan Grant’s new mailbag …

Q: What are the chances the Rangers have a new manager by 2007?

GRANT: About as good as the chances that during that same window of time: I will have a date, find my soulmate and get happily married. Could happen, but I'm betting that come next year's spring training, I'll still be single and the Rangers will still be married to Buck Showalter.

The Cinderella story of FC Roma comes to an end …

The jerseys were nondescript, a black top with white numbers and red shorts, great for any recreational league. But the Roma FC uniform looked a little out of place Tuesday night during the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup, when the Galaxy reminded the team from Dallas that it's still just a bunch of amateurs.

The Galaxy opened their defense of the cup championship with a 2-0 victory over Roma FC before an announced 4,937 at the Home Depot Center track stadium.

The Galaxy will play Colorado or Real Salt Lake in the quarterfinals on Aug. 23 at a site to be determined.

Roma, a member of the United States Adult Soccer Association, reached the round of 16 in the oldest annual team tournament in the country after shocking Chivas USA in the third round. But it failed to make it a clean sweep of the local Major League Soccer teams

Today’s Youtube.com diet:

Speaking of Soulmates, here is a genius scene from a genius movie:



And here is a crazy baseball fight in Japan:



And some P1 got really bored: