Worth the watch.

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I know this young man. An awesome kid. Recruitment activity is off the charts. Hopefully we win on this kid and Rivals can catch up on their rankings because Matt is every bit a 4*.

Starting a thread to keep everyone abreast of which coaches/players will be part of the program next season. As of now, I think we only know of one for sure. Feel free to add to the thread as players commit to stay/join the program, or as assistant coach hires are announced.

Didn't we have one of the leftist posters that was a big believer/defender of MMT? If I recall correctly the defense was deficits didn't matter and government could spend at will without repercussions. How's that working out?

There Has been discussion about Jackson on this board before…but our OC and QB coach need to reach out to him ASAP and get involved!

Jackson will be a junior this next year. His team played in the state finals in Montana this season…they came up short but Jackson has had tons of interest and it is picking up even more.

Prior to this last year, his family lived in California. He received plenty of interest there and the huge private schools were all over him.

His family relocated to Montana last summer - his father is an actor, producer and has film projects in Montana.

There was a Tulsa World story about Jackson moving to Jenks right after the Reisig kid moved to Union.

Anyway Jackson was in Contact with Monken when he was at Georgia…Nebraska hosted him and offered him at the Iowa Nebraska game…and there have been others very interested.

He attended the All American game / player evaluation event about a week go in San Antonio and did really well… From what I understand Arkansas offered him a scholarship today based on last weeks. Camp I asked if he has heard from OSU and the word I got back was no - I wish they would!

Kid is 6-3 as a sophomore with a big arm and an excellent pedigree (Dad was QB on one of Jenks state winning teams. Anyone have a contact with the coaches please pass along!

Helaman Casuga

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OU beat FSU last night, I guess OU fans will be complaining OSU softball received front page news headline treatment and they won their game against FSU, they better cancel. ​

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How Oklahoma State softball's Jilyen Poullard overcame her 'mental warfare' to ignite team​

B &W photo on second page, Color photo on front page noted below


Scott Wright
The Oklahoman

STILLWATER — Neither Kenny Gajewski nor Jilyen Poullard have gone into deep detail about the emotional conversation they had in early April.

But in many ways, the success of the Oklahoma State softball season hinged on that heart-to-heart meeting between coach and player.

The fifth-seeded Cowgirls enter the Stillwater Super Regional against unseeded Arizona two wins away from a fifth straight Women’s College World Series. The best-of-three battle is set to begin with Game 1 at 7 p.m. Friday at Cowgirl Stadium.

Maybe OSU would be in this position without Poullard digging herself out of the hole she found herself in two months ago. But it’s hard to imagine the Cowgirls being as overpowering as they’ve been the last six weeks without her.

“I think this mental warfare that I’ve been having internally has been one of the hardest things to crawl out of,” Poullard said. “I had to recognize how tough I really am, not only physically, but also mentally.”

How dramatic has Poullard’s turnaround been? The Moss Bluff, Louisiana, native had just two hits in 10 at-bats through all of March. She spent much of that time on the bench, appearing in just six of OSU's 18 games that month.

Heading into Friday, she has seven home runs in the past eight games, including one in each of OSU’s two Bedlam wins and three in last week’s Stillwater Regional. She's also getting on base, scoring runs and playing reliable defense in center field.

But her production is only part of the story. Since returning to the lineup, and returning to form, Poullard has been the ignition switch to the Cowgirl offense.

Yet even that phrase doesn’t do justice to her impact.

Imagine lighting a birthday candle with a flamethrower. That’s Poullard’s effect on the Cowgirls the last six weeks.

“If you’ve followed this team and you haven’t seen that, you’ve missed the whole story,” Gajewski said. “She is the spark this team has been waiting for the whole year.”

From her infectious smile to her dugout dance moves to her increasingly more spirited home run celebrations, Poullard has brought to life a type of energy and confidence in the Cowgirl hitters that is nearly impossible to deliberately create.

“It’s so fun to watch her play,” sophomore outfielder Claire Timm said. “She brings so much energy to everyone around her. She’s a great teammate. She’s so competitive. She’s gonna do everything she can to go out there and win.”

Getting to this point, however, was far from simple.


Large photo on the front page

Poullard came in as one of the more exciting Cowgirl transfers last offseason, having shown power, speed and defense at McNeese State.

She looked perfectly suited for a major role as a starting outfielder batting near the top of the order.

She filled that role for a few weeks in February, but her production — and more importantly, her energy — waned to the point that Gajewski started leaving her off the lineup card.

Gajewski would pull her aside for regular conversations about her role, her goals and her urgency to finish strong in her final season of college softball.

“I was overwhelmed with pressure to perform,” Poullard said. “It’s not the pressure from the outside, but the pressure you subconsciously put on yourself to succeed.

“We had a team meeting about the seniors and how our games and our opportunities to be on a team and play the game that we love are winding down. Remembering this is only a game and putting more of my focus on enjoying it and playing the game because it is a game has freed me up a lot.”



And Poullard plays best when she’s happy, so her flip in mindset resulted in an almost instantaneous explosion of production.

Immediately after their emotional talk in early April, Gajewski gave Poullard an opportunity as a pinch-hitter, and she drove in a run. The next game, he started her, batting ninth, and she hit a home run — her third of the year and first in five weeks.

The next day, Gajewski moved her to the leadoff spot. She homered again and has been in the top slot of the lineup card ever since.

“She is in a space that I wish we could’ve got her in by the first week, because I think her numbers would be off the charts,” Gajewski said. “She wasn’t performing the way she wanted to and not finding herself in the lineup as much. You get in this bad place. We had a great talk and a great response.

“It’s awesome. Honestly, it’s why I coach. It’s the only reason, to see stuff like that.”

A small-town Louisiana kid, who affectionately refers to her home as the Dirty South, Poullard admits to being both an emotional player and one who feels the need to prove herself at times.

“I had this negative mindset that I put myself in of, ‘Show everyone why you’re able to play here,’” she said. “I’m grateful to God that I’m able to give that stress to him and just enjoy the game.”

Gajewski and Poullard had several one-on-ones before the early April meeting where everything finally seemed to harmonize. And if not for that moment, it’s hard to project where Poullard or the Cowgirls would be right now.

“I told her, I don’t wanna have any more of these. I want you to be Jil,” Gajewski told her in their final meeting.

“And since then, it’s taken a trajectory that’s been wildly great.”

Stillwater Super Regional​

OSU vs. Arizona in a best-of-three series at Cowgirl Stadium in Stillwater:

• Game 1: 7 p.m. Friday, ESPNU
• Game 2: 6 p.m. Saturday (TV TBD)
• Game 3: TBD Sunday (if necessary)

Don’t know why.

Hmmm
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Not a thing on the Big 12 Tournament in Wednesday’s paper. I didn’t even see any scores.

Addendum: It wasn’t in the paper, but it was on their website. Wire coverage. No local reporter.

Know these woke outfits for what they are. I remember when Paycom CEO Chad Richison called on Oklahoma legislators to repeal a state law that bans mask mandates in public schools when no state emergency has been declared.

Here's the latest lawfare story and the link below.

OKLAHOMA CITY (May 23, 2024)—More than four years after Paycom’s lawsuit against the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs was originally filed, Paycom’s attorneys at the McAfee & Taft law firm have just now realized they want to take more depositions in the case.

Attorneys with McAfee & Taft have filed a motion requesting depositions from three staff members at OCPA and one OCPA board member. One of the OCPA staff members that McAfee & Taft lawyers want to depose did not even work for OCPA four years ago when Paycom first filed its lawsuit.

“There is only one possible explanation for this latest bizarre request from McAfee & Taft,” said OCPA President Jonathan Small. “McAfee & Taft is recognized as Oklahoma’s largest, and one of its most successful, law firms, and knows better from its success defending others from meritless lawsuits, so the firm is simply trying to drag out their client’s meritless lawsuit. This is obvious to anyone with an ounce of common sense.”

In a 2020 article, OCPA briefly referenced Paycom CEO Chad Richison’s public advocacy for draconian COVID policies that would have had significant negative impact on the livelihood of many Oklahomans. Among other things, Richison wanted to dictate how Oklahomans purchased a box of cereal and other goods at the grocery store. The article linked directly to a copy of Richison’s public letter demanding those draconian COVID restrictions, allowing Oklahomans to view the entire document for themselves.

Paycom subsequently sued OCPA, claiming the think tank engaged in defamation and tortious interference by briefly highlighting Richison’s public comments.

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs has filed a motion for summary judgment.

“The law is on OCPA’s side and there are no meaningful facts in dispute,” Small said. “It is time to end McAfee Taft and Paycom’s lawfare against Oklahoma conservatives.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/re...sts-doubt-stated-reason-trump-mar-a-lago-raid

A major part of the case was that the National Achieves were missing documents. This would indicate that the federal government already had the documents and could have asked this agency for the information.

This brings up another question for me. Having secret documents in and of themselves for a former president is not unusual. They retain security clearance even after they leave office, and still receive protection from the Secret Service, who would need a SKIF to conduct business, which could be used to store classified information. So, the government is not going to get Trump on having classified documents that was cleared to have in the first place. This means a major part of the case was missing documents, which would be made moot by this PICT's ability to archive records.

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How Texas golf is the host of the NCAA championships on a course 1,300 miles away | Bohls​

• Texas golf coach John Fields has won two men's national championships but has a vision of a greater legacy for the game.
• College golf needed a neutral site for its championships, and Texas' Chris Del Conte and Bob Rowling came through.
• Legendary Oklahoma State golf coach Mike Holder sees the NCAA golf championship anchored in California as the "amateur version of the Masters."

Thanks to a brand-new venture that's the brainchild of Texas men’s golf coach John Fields, the Longhorns are hosting this week’s NCAA championship in that sport starting Friday.

Just not in Austin.

In fact, nowhere near Austin.

The tournament, featuring the top 30 golf teams in the country, including Fields’ Longhorns, will be at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., a few long Bryson DeChambeau drives away from San Diego. Yeah, Texas is hosting, just some 1,300 miles away.

Welcome to new-age hosting in the 21st century.

The genesis of the idea came about five years ago when no California schools, not even in the San Diego area, stepped forward with bids to host the event moving forward. So Fields enlisted the support of former Oklahoma State athletic director and legendary golf coach Mike Holder and suggested to longtime Longhorns megadonor Bob Rowling that “it would be a good idea to host the national championship in Southern California.”

And Rowling, the billionaire sole owner of 47 Omni hotels who once gave $25 million to the Texas business school, said why not? Then Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte gave his blessing as well. And so did the NCAA, which approved it, and the plan was off and running.

More:Anonymous coaches bashing Texas Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers is unwarranted | Bohls

“The schools in the area didn’t want to do it,” Del Conte said. “I can’t give the Rowling family enough kudos. They spent a significant amount of money. But the vision came from Fields.”

Coaching legend: 'This will transform college golf'​

Holder, who won eight national championships with the Cowboys, has lent a helping hand to the organization of this and gushes about the future.

“This will transform college golf,” Holder said. “It’s going to take it from a very, very significant amateur event to the premier amateur event in all of athletics. In fact, I think it has a chance to become the amateur version of the Masters. There are so many things that make the Masters what it is, but one of the biggest is that they play it at the same place every year. I think it’s inevitable it will be a permanent site.”

And a challenging site at that.

Thanks to a huge $20 million renovation by famed architect Gil Hanse and partner Jim Wagner as well as a $5.5 million redo of the practice facility, short-game area and driving range, the course will serve as home for NCAA men’s and women’s golf.

Maybe forever. Kind of like golf’s version of the College World Series.

That’s where Fields, in his 27th season as Texas coach, came up with the notion of piggybacking on the birth of the College World Series, which has kept that crown jewel of baseball in Omaha, Neb., since 1950. While it’s been a vast undertaking, Fields thinks it has been well worth it as he and others hope to re-create baseball’s successful trajectory for the growing sport that is college golf.

Like volleyball and softball, college golf is exploding. Take the just-completed PGA Championships at Valhalla. The top five finishers, including San Diego State product Xander Schauffele, who beat SMU’s DeChambeau on the 72nd hole to win his first major, all played college golf. So did 15 of the top 22 on the final leaderboard.

More:LISTEN: Texas softball's Teagan Kavan on Texas A&M; Texas baseball, end of LHN

And Fields saw this as a chance to give back and make college golf even more high-profile.

Thus was born the College World Golf Championships Foundation Inc. It’s a mouthful of a title.

Transforming a course, down to blades of grass​

Fields pushed for the new nonprofit entity with his daughter, April Workman, as the executive director and Fields on the board of directors, but that doesn’t mean he’s close to giving up his position of coaching the Longhorns, who are gunning for their fifth national title and Fields’ third. That said, he’s made about 16 trips to Carlsbad to oversee the progress.

The NCAA awarded La Costa the site even when there wasn’t really a golf course considering the vast makeover. Hanse’s team completely stripped the layout that had been in place since 1965. Club director Dustin Irwin said they moved fairways; added six tee boxes per hole to benefit the collegians, 3,000 members and hotel guests alike; sprigged nine holes and resodded the rest with bentgrass; and pretty much rebuilt a flexible tract that can play 6,300 yards for the women and a shade under 7,500 for the men.

“He changed everything,” Holder said. “Every blade of grass, every bunker, every green.”

Before they ripped it up, though, chief of sales Dan Surette said Hanse brought in a sampling of men’s and women’s golf coaches to walk the course and ask them for suggestions. This week, Surette got ringing endorsements from women’s coaches about the quality of the course and the strategic nature it demands.

“Omni wants this to be the best amateur event in the world,” Surette said. “It was a big commitment.”

More:Texas baseball certainly won't host a regional without Big 12 tourney win | Golden

The advantages of playing at a neutral site​

And college golf gained an anchor with a new site for 2024 through 2026. Perhaps even a permanent one?

“Oh, that’s absolutely the plan,” Fields said. “We’ve also bid for it in 2027 and 2028. We just need to hit a home run the first year.”

All parties signed off on the premise for a number of reasons. Those include the likelihood of perfect weather, a conducive Pacific Coast time zone to allow the Golf Channel to air the competition up to six hours a day and in prime time back east, and an all-inclusive resort that could house every single coach, golfer, television employee and administrative staffer involved in the event, with 600 completely remodeled rooms on site.

But the playing field needed to be even for all.

“I think there’s been a need for a neutral site, but anyone who wants to host it had a vested interest,” Holder said. “I think it’s inevitable it will be a permanent site.”

More:Beaten in its Big 12 finale, No. 24 Texas shifts its focus to the NCAA regionals

That as much as any factor was a driving force for this idea so a school wouldn’t have an extra advantage as when it was hosted the previous three years at Grayhawk Golf Club, Arizona State's home course. Even though they’d played their course 81 times, the Sun Devils were vanquished by none other than Fields’ Longhorns for the 2022 national championship.

That said, it was a huge recruiting benefit for ASU to host the event for three years, and Fields said it played a huge role in the Sun Devils landing future PGA Tour golfer Preston Summerhays even though Texas was trying hard to lure him. Yeah, the school that has spawned six legendary golfers who have won 102 PGA tournaments and 10 majors championships. But Texas still whipped ASU, including Summerhays, who was a freshman on that 2022 club.

Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth, who have five majors between them, including three Masters, are big selling points for UT golf. But the Longhorns couldn’t overcome ASU’s perks of hosting the national championship for three straight years.

“I think I came within a whisker of getting him,” Fields said of Summerhays, “but the deciding factor was that he was going to get to play the national championship a couple of times on his own golf course.”

And other coaches across the country wanted to avoid that type of overwhelming recruiting advantage. Fields estimates the back-to-back women’s and men’s championships over consecutive weeks cost somewhere between $2 million and $3 million a year.

“Loved the place, and the people there did a good job,” Fields said of Grayhawk. “But it’s 110 degrees. Truth be known, you could cook an egg on those cart paths.”

Nor was it a fan-friendly location for galleries.

More:Texas softball slugger Reese Atwood named one of three finalists for national player of year

Taking a needed leap of faith​

aking a needed leap of faith​

Fields is more than a little familiar with hosting this national event because he was head coach at New Mexico when that school was home for the championships in 1992. It later won a bid to host again in 1998, but he had left for Texas the year before.

When he reached out to Holder with this grand scheme, he, too, quickly hopped on board. Holder salutes Fields and Del Conte for their vision.

“CDC is a big thinker. He’s trying to elevate everything about athletics there and in the process the game as a whole,” Holder said. “Thank goodness John and Chris looked at it more globally. For John to put in his time, effort and energy shows a real unselfishness on his part with no benefit to UT or his golf program other than the intangible things. And he’s got a really good team. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they won this thing.”

The vision required a leap of faith for Rowling and Omni as well since it will be some time before they recoup their investment.

“Texas prides itself on being a leader in the space of college athletics,” Del Conte said. “And we had two historically great coaches. It’s a win-win.”

The project is near and dear to Fields’ heart because he and wife Pearl are committed to strengthening the game of golf and leaving behind a legacy for the sport beyond shiny trophies.

“There’s no question this is a monumental job,” he said. “I’m probably one of the few people in America who would even entertain something like that. But I believe in my life and Pearl’s that golf has been so wonderful to us, that this is the right time.”

But with all that’s on his plate, does this suggest a retirement from the Longhorns soon?

“No, no. Not right now,” Fields said.

Still things to do, golfers to recruit, details to manage, championships to win. And a very big tournament to host.

NCAA golf championship​

Friday-Wednesday, Carlsbad, Calif., Golf Channel, 5-9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday

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WTF

I guess we will find out.

You decide.

Having to change providers as Safeco not in Oklahoma now. not sure whom I will end up with. Suggestions viewed if offered. Still have a loan so the self-insurance not an option. Travelers wants 3 percent deduct on wind and hail and will not do just house in Oklahoma. They have high car rates from my quotes. Wife said some of her co workers has said they are being dropped by Farmers.

Game 1 of the tourney against the Red Raiders. They’re playing better and their backs are to the wall, so expect a tough ballgame. Need our bats to stay hot - thought Wulfy looked better against UH and Meola is coming along. Benge and Schuby just need to do their thing. I think we see Benge on the bump tonight - he didn’t throw against TTU or UH so he’s rested. I guess we could downstaff and save him for Thursday, but the game notes show Benge. Game scheduled for 7:30 on ESPN Plus.

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Tyranny.

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Absolutely disgraceful.
Corruption seems to be the norm these days.


"VA inappropriately used the money to line the pockets of VA executives to the detriment of VA's workforce and the veterans they serve."

https://www.military.com/daily-news...officials-who-approved-executive-bonuses.html