Sun Bowl Mania

Open letter to Oklahoma Sooners fans

On Thursday, many of you probably read The Oklahoman article, Juarez violence sparks Sun Bowl fears for OU fans, that we linked to on elpasotimes.com.

In response, I wrote a letter to Oklahoma fans that The Oklahoman ran in their sports section today. You can read it here: An open letter to OU football fans.  

My e-mail box has been flooded today, and I wanted to share some of those e-mails with you. (e-mails edited for length.)

B.J. Bergner writes:

I am a current law student and graduate of the University of Oklahoma, and I wanted to thank you for your open letter to OU fans which was published in the The Oklahoman today. ... Having never been to El Paso, I would love to make the trip and see a fine city and what I hope will be a great football game, but as a student, I simply can't afford to make the trip this season. 

One of my classmates is an El Paso native who loves his hometown. After reading The Oklahoman's article about many OU fans not making the trip due to safety concerns, he was very offended.  He was disappointed so many people would make assumptions without knowing anything about the city. ... I would like to also apologize on behalf of those Sooner fans. ... I hope the fans who do make the trip can tell others of positive experiences while visiting El Paso so that they may quiet the myths and cause people to see El Paso for the city it is. 

Tim Griffin of ESPN.com writes:

Really enjoyed your piece in the Oklahoman this morning. Those fans in Oklahoma don't know what they are missing.

I've made countless trips all around the country over the years to various games around the country. And one of my favorites is still El Paso.

And you are right about Kiki's. One of the best Mexican restaurants I've ever been to.

You guys should have a good game this year. Enjoy it.

Jerry Townley writes:

This is a great letter! People would be better off with the facts rather than the "rumors"!

I'm a Sooner fan for over 60 years now and I hope my bretheren will heed your advice and show up, enjoy the culture of El Paso, enjoy the delicious food you describe and hopefully witness a Sooner victory.

Matt Van Every writes:

I wanted to tell you how much I was touched by your article.  I could feel your genuine love of El Paso and it makes me want to come to visit.

Although I'm a huge OU fan, I will not be coming for the bowl.  Unfortunately I've never been able to see my beloved Sooners in any bowl. Nothing against El Paso, Miami, Phoenix or any other destination. It's just never been in the cards financially.

That being said, I hope to come to El Paso sometime and maybe try some of those fries with chili con cueso.  As a former San Diegan myself (North County, Encinitas area) I love border towns and find it regrettable that criminals have given them a bad name.

Sheryl Haskins writes:

Thanks so much for your article. I've been hearing so many horror stories about El Paso. All places can be scary if you have not been there before. I was born in El Paso years ago when my dad was in the service. We left when I was about 2 and haven't been back since. I've always wanted to go back to visit. I was glad when this opportunity came up and was looking forward to it. But lately I was starting to regret that we had signed up for the game because of the stories not because I was disappointed in the team. We always follow the team wherever they go.  

Thanks again for your article and I'm now again looking forward to it.

Thanks Sooners fans for all the e-mails. Sorry I couldn't reprint them all. And welcome to El Paso!

Stripes, sideline reporters and Sony gift suites

With not much to report on the football front in regards to the 76th annual Brut Sun Bowl, let’s take some time for some housekeeping items. 

Men in black (and white)

First, when Oklahoma and Stanford take the field at noon Dec. 31 in Sun Bowl Stadium, the teams will have a Big Ten officiating crew presiding over them. 

Before 2009, Big Ten crews hadn’t been in the spotlight for blown calls or referee shenanigans of any sort. But this season saw the conference make news a few times. 

First came Charlie Weis’ issues with a crew in Ann Arbor on Sept. 12. The then-Notre Dame coach went off on the officials after his team lost 38-34 to Michigan.  

Most recently, questionable refereeing was part of an interesting weekend at the end of October, which saw a few tricky calls and a lot of irate fans in Iowa City, Iowa, and Champaign, Ill. 

But presumably, part of the upper echelon of the Big Ten’s crews are coming to El Paso. And Oklahomans are just glad they won’t have to see a Pac-10 crew. 

In the booth

Tim Tebow lovers Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson won’t grace us with their appearance this year. 

Instead, CBS is sending the team of Craig Bolerjack and analyst Steve Beurelein to man the play-by-play booth. 

But all you care about is who's gonna be on the sideline, right?

That would be the gender-neutrally named Sam Ryan. 

Ryan was here two years ago during Oregon’s trouncing of South Florida. 

Here's the complete bowl announcing schedule.

Free stuff

That’d be for the teams, not for you.

The Brut Sun Bowl has come a long way since being fodder for then-Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton when it comes to gift-giving. Orton took a swipe at the free goodies he received during his second trip to the Brut Sun Bowl when talking to Sports Illustrated in 2001. 

But thanks to bowlwide spending limits and a little work, the Sunnies have gotten consistently better every year at putting together some memorable packages. 

This year’s gifts include: a Sony gift suite, a Timely Watch Co. watch, a Majestic fleece pullover, a VP Sports cap, an Ogio Politan laptop pack, a Brut hair dryer and a commemorative coin. 

By comparison, the Little Caesars Bowl (Dec. 26, Detroit) is giving players a Sony gift suite, a Timely Watch Co. watch and a football. 

Participants in the Citi BCS National Championship will receive a Sony gift suite with Trek and Garmin, a Fossil watch, a New Era 59Fifty hat and an Ogio Politan laptop pack.

Find a complete bowl gifts list here.

For anyone wondering what a Sony gift suite is, it’s basically a kiosk inside the teams’ hotels stocked with Sony stuff. Players get to visit these booths and pick out what they want that totals to a set amount ($300 in most cases) and take it home. 

Not bad swag, huh?

Will stars come out for Sun Bowl?

Along with all the excitement about how great a game Oklahoma-Stanford is going to be in the Sun Bowl, there has also been some talk about who Stanford might draw to the game.

Early rumors surrounded Stanford-alum Tiger Woods, but that was before he put his golf career on hold to try his hand at R&B.

Tiger Woods Voicemail Slow Jam - watch more funny videos

So now the rumors have switched to former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who is a professor at Stanford.

I have no reason to think she might show up, though Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh did name her an "Honorary Captain" of the team back in November. A screengrab from Harbaugh's Twitter feed:

Betting line

Early on, I noted that Oklahoma had opened as a 12-point favorite over Stanford. But betters are flocking to Stanford, and the line has gone all the way down to Oklahoma -8.

I'm still leaning toward Oklahoma, but I'm starting to be swayed by arguments that Stanford is going to be more up for this game than the Sooners.

Sun Bowl gets more props

An article in Sporting News Today, titled Your postseason viewing guide — From El Paso to Albuquerque, rates the Sun Bowl as the #1 "must-see" bowl this year.

That's right. Numero Uno. To compare, they put the national championship game at #5.

Why? "The stout Oklahoma front four against Stanford bulldozer and Heisman runner-up Toby Gerhart." The article also touts the coaching duel of Harbaugh versus Stoops.

Video: Stoops, Harbaugh talk about Sun Bowl

Here is the promised video from today's Sun Bowl news conference.

First Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops talks about the Stanford team, then talks about Heisman winner Sam Bradford's effect on the team.

Then Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh talks about their Heisman candidate Toby Gerhart and how his team has fared this year.

Notre Dame questions end

Jay reported earlier today that coaches from the schools participating in the Brut Sun Bowl — whose names have been thrown around in talks involving Notre Dame's coaching position — will not let the rumor mill distract them. 

Both Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Stanford's Jim Harbaugh said they are focused on the Dec. 31 game during a visit to El Paso on Thursday.

And here’s why:

ESPN reports that Brian Kelly, who has coached Cincinnati’s football team to a 12-0 record this season and a berth in the Sugar Bowl, will be the new coach at Notre Dame, according to two sources who spoke to network reporter Chris Mortensen.

Neither Notre Dame nor Cincinnati has confirmed that Kelly has accepted an offer to coach the Fighting Irish, and Kelly could not be reached for comment, but the sources tell Mortensen that Kelly is Notre Dame's choice to replace the fired Charlie Weis.

Cincinnati is holding its football banquet later tonight, and in a change of plans Thursday afternoon, barred the media from the event. One source told Mortensen that Kelly will announce at the banquet that he has taken the Notre Dame job. Earlier this week, Kelly had contact with a representative of Notre Dame about its opening.

Stoops, Harbaugh news conference done

It was a shorter news conference than usual, and now photographers are getting their shots of the coaches. Stoops apologized for not wearing a suit, saying there had been a mix-up in his traveling wardrobe.

But, hey, he still looks like a football coach.

That's it for now. Rather uneventful, but I'll try to catch the coaches for some video interviews, and I'll post those tonight.

No Notre Dame worries

Both coaches said the rumor mill about the opening at Notre Dame has not and will not affect them at all. Both said they have not been part of the Notre Dame scene and it hasn't slowed their preperation.

Brothers as coaches

The coaches were asked about having brothers as coaches.

Harbaugh said it was great and that his brother is his mentor. Gives him lots of tips.

Stoops agreed that it is a special thing having a brother as a coach.

Jim Harbaugh: Building program back up

Jim Harbaugh:

"We'd like to thank the Sun Bowl for inviting us to play in this prestigious bowl against Oklahoma."

"I've personally heard many stories about how great the Sun Bowl is, from people who have been to many, many bowls."

"We're in the process of building our program back up to its rightful legendary status in college football."

"Oklahoma is strong in a lot of areas. They are strong in areas we're weak in, and they are strong in areas we're strong in."