Sports memory No. 6: My notekeeping catches Jo Jo White off guard

1983, Muskogee, Okla.: I’m sitting at the press table at a Muskogee High School basketball game, a few minutes before tipoff. From courtside, I can smell the popcorn wafting from the concession stand that’s on the upper level of the gym. I look toward the concession stand and I notice a tall guy in a

Sports memory No. 4: Meeting the ‘Killer’ face to face

March 15, 1983, Mabee Center, Tulsa, Okla.: The TCU men’s basketball team had just beaten Tulsa 64-62 in the first round of the NIT. I’d interviewed players and I was headed for the media room when I run into TCU coach Jim “Killer” Killingsworth and Tulsa World sports editor Bill Connors talking in the corridor.

OU football: Why Sooners should care about the loss of Big Tex

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been a rough week for Texans in Dallas. First, OU laid waste to the Orangebloods’ psyche with a 63-21 victory over their team last Saturday at the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park. Then, Friday came a tougher loss for Texans in general. Big Tex, the icon of the State Fair of

OU football: Sooners are victims of ‘Old Man Ball’

When I was younger, I couldn’t get enough pickup basketball. Playing against guys you knew, your classmates, peers, was exciting. The rules were simple. First to 15 wins. Make it, take it. Winners kept the court. Fun times. But things got dead serious when the “old men” showed up. Dudes in their late 20s. Some