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Nobody picks on me - I'm a Marine. I've had quiet a few breasts, thank you. I also played football, and my son won a football scholarship to a Div1A team. You may find this article interesting. This is a national publication, how people from outside Texas and OK perceive the OU program.

Time for "Big Game" Bob Stoops To Lose the Moniker

Another BCS Championship Game, and another embarrassment for Oklahoma. Yes, the Sooners stayed in the game in the first half, and actually made it interesting for awhile, but like so many of their forays into high-level competition in BCS Bowls, the Sooners' coaching staff was exposed as "not-ready-for-prime-time."

Stoops may be a legend in Norman, but his 0-5 mark in his last five BCS Bowls has cemented his status as a failure.

It's not the talent—he has plenty. It's not the play-calling—oh wait, it is. Again.

Twice in the first half, the Sooners were in the red-zone, and twice walked away with nothing. Zilch. Nada. Zippo.

When you're given a gift (i.e., interception), you don't gamble it way. Take the three and say, "Thank you very much, Mr. Tebow." But Stoops, on two consecutive plays, called a tentative running play, and when that didn't work, called it again, just to make sure the Gators were paying attention. Not only were they paying attention, but they saluted his butt back a few yards.

Sorry, Bob, there are no mulligans in football. The checklist is alarming.

Poor clock management? Check. Questionable timeouts? Check. Conservative playcalling at inappropriate times? Check. Failure to convert on big third down plays? Check, check and check.

Stoops' inability to rally the troops after a miscue has been problematic for some time. This wasn't a fluke. In fact, this performance played out like all of his other performances—a big bang beginning, and complete ineptitude afterward.

In the 2005 Championship against the USC Trojans, the score was 7-7 and both teams were playing fairly even. One muffed punt by Mark Bradley, and the little wheels of the Sooner Schooner fell off so fast, the Trojans had reeled off 21 straight points before the Sooners knew what hit them. Stoops even admitted that it was a game-changing play. But he hasn't learned from it.

This game against the Sooners was more of the same—when his team didn't stop the Gators on a between-the-tackles run, Stoops stomped his feet and threw his headset down on the ground ala Steve Spurrier. Guess what Bob? You're becoming more and more like Spurrier and that's not a compliment. See South Carolina's game against Iowa for proof.

It's frustrating to watch the Sooners implode with dropped pass after dropped pass, but even more frustrating when you consider some of the biggest and baddest plays called can't be blamed on the players. With seconds left in the half and the game tied, Stoops called for a pass play at the goal line in a lot of traffic.

Where's the fade into the corner? There's a much higher completion percentage and less chance of an interception. Instead, the Gators intercepted the ball, and sent the Sooners into the locker room with lots of doubt and frustration and their tails between their legs. The outcome was inevitable.

It's the same old stuff and football fans are tired of it. Flashes of brilliance with tons of mediocrity. You would think by now the Sooners would have a chip on their shoulders as big as Stoops 6 mil paycheck—heck, even a disrespected Ohio State team came out on fire against Texas and almost won the Fiesta Bowl. The Sooners, on the other hand, got beat by a bunch of sophomores who clearly executed better in the second half. Sophomores.

For all those apologists of Notre Dame or Alabama who hide behind the youth of their team as an excuse for tanking some games, Florida just schooled you. Big time. So sit down, shut up, and quiet those spin machines.

The Florida Gators may not have the best technical quarterback, but Tebow is without a doubt the face of what is so grand about college football. He's the guy you want in a huddle. He's the guy you want to lead you into battle. Bradford may be a beautiful pocket passer and prototype NFL thrower, but give me Tebow anyway. He's the epitome of a winner.

As far as Stoops' future, who knows? Sooners fans can sit and tick off all the Big 12 Championships he has won, all the Red River Rivalries he has won, but honestly, they need a serious reality check if they don't have some lingering doubts in their minds. Moreover, outside Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska, nobody gives a damn anymore. Yes, Stoops has brought the Sooners back into national prominence, but realistically, he has now taken them out of it.

Like Ohio State, there's going to be some serious mulling over Oklahoma next season and where the pollsters place them in the polls. Ask Notre Dame what the repercussions of losing consecutive bowls are. The Sooners stock is falling, and the CEO is to blame.

Stoops is a good coach, great community leader and has a remarkable coaching record. But his bowl performances stink. Stoops has lost five straight BCS Bowls, with a Holiday Bowl win the only thing saving him from a futile 0-6 in the last six years.

The Sooners fans may swear their allegiance to him and point with pride at how he has turned around the Sooners football program, but the "at least we are playing in a BCS Bowl" song is becoming annoying. And tiresome. The Sooners are keeping other quality teams out of a bowl and it's becoming increasingly clear that conference perceptions are whacked.

This was a title game, and the Sooners didn't look anything like a national title contender. Again. The Sooners were out coached. Again. Ask anyone in the nation whether they would take Urban Meyer or Bob Stoops as their coach, and anyone who says "Bob Stoops" is content to never go on to the next level and still believes Al Gore invented the Internet.

Urban Meyer, Pete Carroll and Les Miles are winners. Stoops is a loser.

The truth hurts, but in the end, it's fairly accurate.

"Almost winning" is still a loss. 0-5 is a mess.

With a month to prepare, this nation's highest ranked offense could only produce 14 points against a bunch of underclassmen.

Pathetic performances, not able to game-prep in bowls, and a propensity to sneak through the cracks in the BCS system all add up to one thing- he's lucky as hell he even got to play in the BCS Bowls.

"Big Game" Bob? Not even close. "Big Bust" Bob is more fitting.

Congrats to the Florida Gators, 2008 National Champions.