This Shows Not All Is OK in Oklahoma

By Larry Stewart

Dec. 9, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

If you think everyone in Norman, Okla., was rejoicing over Oklahoma’s berth in the Sugar Bowl, that wasn’t exactly the case.

A headline on Clay Horning’s column in the Norman Transcript on Monday read: “Sooners Got Lucky, but USC’s the Big Winner in This BCS Mess.”

Wrote Horning: “The Sooners lucked out. Man, did they luck out Sunday. Because they were terrible Saturday.”

What really counts: Horning says the Sooners will be “playing for -- nudge, nudge -- the national title. [But] it’s a watered-down national title. Right now, the Associated Press champion will carry more legitimacy than the BCS national champion.”

Why it’s a win: More from Horning: “Amazingly, Sunday’s big winner was USC. Even if nobody seemed to get it. Even if the Trojan coach, Pete Carroll, was doing all he could to give it away with that big smug smile.

“Because all the Trojans have to do to win the national title is beat Michigan. That’s it. Meanwhile, LSU has to beat Oklahoma. Who would you rather play?”

Trivia time: When USC finished 12-1 and shared the national championship with Alabama in 1978, that season included a 24-14 victory over the Crimson Tide. Which team beat the Trojans?

Numbers game: Sugar Bowl Executive Director Paul Hoolahan said, “You hear coaches say it’s a game of inches. Unfortunately with the BCS, now it’s a game of fractions.”

Randy Hill of foxsports.com calls it “smash-math football.”

Conflict of interest: A feature story on Michigan’s Chris Perry would be a natural for Ann Arbor magazine. But the editor of the magazine has decided she is not the person to write it.

It’s not that she isn’t qualified. According to Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune, Perry’s story -- “Tough running back, been through a lot, wanted to quit the team at one point, stayed and ended up helping his mom as she battled breast cancer” -- is well known to the editor, Irene Egerton Perry. The problem is, she is the star running back’s mother.

Squeeze play: The Wall Street Journal reports Procter & Gamble is planning to go with a Super Bowl ad for Charmin toilet paper with the tag, “Softer and stronger for your end zone.”

In the spot, a quarterback bends over the center and discovers toilet paper, rather than the traditional towel.

Advertising expert Jack Trout called the decision to go with the Charmin ad “a strange pick,” adding, “I don’t think the average guy watching the game is into toilet paper.”

Trivia answer: Arizona State, 20-7.

And finally: Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post, in a column he writes for aol.com, explained that the writers can leave USC first in the Associated Press poll if the Trojans beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, but the coaches can’t in their poll.

“They’re obligated to vote the Sugar Bowl winner No. 1 on the ballots, if not in their hearts,” Armstrong wrote.

Larry Stewart can be reached at [email protected].