pretty cool....from the DOK and Helsley....
STILLWATER — Tom Holliday received a text message at his seat in Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Sunday. After initially not recognizing the number, he quickly learned it was Robin Ventura.
“‘Hey, where are you sitting?’” Ventura inquired.
“‘Why do you want to know?’” asked Holliday, who recruited Ventura to Oklahoma State in the mid-1980s.
“‘I want to come see you,’” Ventura replied.
Ventura, on his way to the annual Memorial Day Patriot Cup golf event in Owasso, amended his schedule to include the Cowboys.
“I changed my flight,” the former OSU great told Tulsa’s KOTV News 6. “I noticed when I was flying out here that Oklahoma State was playing in the Big 12 championship, so I rerouted my flight to Oklahoma City.
“I got there in the second inning. I just went up and bought a ticket. I didn’t think I’d make it in time. I had a great day. They ended up winning; I got to see Josh (Holliday) and Rob (Walton).
“It’s a great trip for me already.”
It was a great surprise for Josh Holliday, who was a kid running around Reynolds Stadium when Ventura starred for the Cowboys; and for Walton, who played with Ventura at OSU.
It was a meshing of old and new.
“After the game I walked in the dugout and there’s Robin Ventura, came in to watch us play,” Josh Holliday said. “You just start connecting the dots. For 16 straight years, every time there was a (Big Eight) tournament played in Oklahoma City, we won it. I got to win the last one in ‘96 when it was the Big Eight. Since then we’ve only done it one time.
“It’s a moment for these kids they’ll never forget.”
Cowboys embracing their role
OSU is heading on the road for the NCAA Tournament.
And the Cowboys are more than OK with that, considering they didn’t have a spot in the field until seizing the Big 12’s automatic bid on Sunday.
Besides, it’s a role that’s served them well, having spent every outing in their six-game winning streak in the visitor’s dugout.
“The good thing is we get to keep playing,” Josh Holliday said. “We’ve been on both sides of that coin. We’ve hosted where everybody’s coming in our house and you feel the pressure, ‘We’re supposed to win. We’re supposed to be the host team.’
“And then we’ve been on the mission where we’ve gone into someone else’s place and said, ‘Hey man, the pressure’s on them, let’s just let it fly.’”
Razorbacks ready to be home
When the regional sites were revealed Sunday night and Arkansas learned Fayetteville would be one of the 16, it was welcome news.
The Razorbacks were heading home. And staying home.
The Hogs had been on the road since May 17, when they finished the regular season at Texas A&M. From there, it was on to Hoover, Ala., for the SEC Tournament, where they stayed a while, going 3-2 and advancing to the championship game, where they lost to LSU.
STILLWATER — Tom Holliday received a text message at his seat in Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Sunday. After initially not recognizing the number, he quickly learned it was Robin Ventura.
“‘Hey, where are you sitting?’” Ventura inquired.
“‘Why do you want to know?’” asked Holliday, who recruited Ventura to Oklahoma State in the mid-1980s.
“‘I want to come see you,’” Ventura replied.
Ventura, on his way to the annual Memorial Day Patriot Cup golf event in Owasso, amended his schedule to include the Cowboys.
“I changed my flight,” the former OSU great told Tulsa’s KOTV News 6. “I noticed when I was flying out here that Oklahoma State was playing in the Big 12 championship, so I rerouted my flight to Oklahoma City.
“I got there in the second inning. I just went up and bought a ticket. I didn’t think I’d make it in time. I had a great day. They ended up winning; I got to see Josh (Holliday) and Rob (Walton).
“It’s a great trip for me already.”
It was a great surprise for Josh Holliday, who was a kid running around Reynolds Stadium when Ventura starred for the Cowboys; and for Walton, who played with Ventura at OSU.
It was a meshing of old and new.
“After the game I walked in the dugout and there’s Robin Ventura, came in to watch us play,” Josh Holliday said. “You just start connecting the dots. For 16 straight years, every time there was a (Big Eight) tournament played in Oklahoma City, we won it. I got to win the last one in ‘96 when it was the Big Eight. Since then we’ve only done it one time.
“It’s a moment for these kids they’ll never forget.”
Cowboys embracing their role
OSU is heading on the road for the NCAA Tournament.
And the Cowboys are more than OK with that, considering they didn’t have a spot in the field until seizing the Big 12’s automatic bid on Sunday.
Besides, it’s a role that’s served them well, having spent every outing in their six-game winning streak in the visitor’s dugout.
“The good thing is we get to keep playing,” Josh Holliday said. “We’ve been on both sides of that coin. We’ve hosted where everybody’s coming in our house and you feel the pressure, ‘We’re supposed to win. We’re supposed to be the host team.’
“And then we’ve been on the mission where we’ve gone into someone else’s place and said, ‘Hey man, the pressure’s on them, let’s just let it fly.’”
Razorbacks ready to be home
When the regional sites were revealed Sunday night and Arkansas learned Fayetteville would be one of the 16, it was welcome news.
The Razorbacks were heading home. And staying home.
The Hogs had been on the road since May 17, when they finished the regular season at Texas A&M. From there, it was on to Hoover, Ala., for the SEC Tournament, where they stayed a while, going 3-2 and advancing to the championship game, where they lost to LSU.
