Claremore Daily Progress

Sports Columnists

Sports Columnists
  • DAHLBERG: No real losers in Peyton Manning chase

    The slightest clue that he is in town draws curious onlookers to airports and practice fields. Reporters stake him out, and television helicopters hover overhead to capture his every move.
    There's never been a free agent frenzy like this in the NFL. Then again, there's never been a free agent like Peyton Manning.

    March 17, 2012

  • DAHLBERG: Academics still second at many schools

    Filling out a bracket for the NCAA tournament is pretty much a crapshoot, no matter how much you study or how good you guess. That was especially true last year, when no No. 1 seed made the Final Four yet Butler somehow found its way there for the second straight year.

    March 15, 2012

  • HORNING: Running hot and cold

    Horseplayers face a choice like that of the women’s NCAA tournament’s Fresno Regional’s Norman quad all the time.

    Should one bet on recent finishes or speed figures, pedigree or class?

    March 14, 2012

  • LITKE: Pat Knight steps out of father's shadow

    For three seasons and counting, people have gone out of their way to highlight the differences between Pat and Bob Knight. The resemblance, though, never seems stronger than when one or the other starts growling.
    So go to YouTube, cue up the video of Pat Knight's nearly 8-minute rant about the seniors on his Lamar basketball team, then close your eyes and tell me he doesn't sound exactly like his dad. At one point, he even threatens to behave like the old man, too.

    March 13, 2012

  • LITKE: Another 'Superteam' in Florida's future?

    Peyton Manning's departure from Indianapolis was so graceful we might as well call it "The Anti-Decision.''
    That doesn't mean he still can't learn a thing or two from LeBron James. With some sacrifice, a little bit of luck and a lot of creative number-crunching, Manning could begin assembling his own, Heat-styled "superteam'' in Miami in a hurry.
    The Dolphins won't be the only team competing for Manning's services, though they might be the best fit. They're one of two NFL teams that could benefit most from the "Manning bump.'' The Titans are the other one, because of the quarterback's strong Tennessee ties.

    March 9, 2012

  • LITKE: Punishing Williams won't end real problem

    What Gregg Williams did wasn't all that different from what football coaches have been doing since the game was invented. He just kept detailed records.
    Violence is the coin of the realm in the NFL, but based on the headlines, you would think targeting players to gain a competitive advantage - or to pocket a few extra bucks - was something Williams thought up during stints in Buffalo and Washington, then perfected as defensive coordinator in New Orleans. No.

    March 6, 2012

  • Sooner fans love a party, but what else?

    I don’t have a clue what the correct number is, but for a long time I’ve been telling people that Autumn Saturdays in Norman come with almost 90,000 people huddled around Owen Field and maybe that many again hanging out beyond the stadium’s walls.

    Maybe I’m way off. Maybe every one of them walks into the stadium for the kick. What do I know? I’m 50 stories up in the press box.

    I exaggerate.

    A little.

    February 8, 2012

  • DAHLBERG: Brady will get another chance at legacy

    Tom Brady was one of the last ones out of the shower, perhaps hoping some extra hot water would help take the sting out of a crushing Super Bowl loss. In a nearly deserted New England Patriots locker room, he sat wearily pulling on his boots, the pained look on his face never changing.
    A few moments earlier, Joe Montana had walked down the hallway just outside, but there would be no meeting of Super Bowl greats. Nor would Brady join Montana in another way, as a four-time NFL champion - something he seemed destined to be at one point in the fourth quarter.
    This was not a night when legacies would be debated. That will have to wait for another time, another place, another Super Bowl. For the second time in the last five Super Bowls, Brady had come up oh-so-short, beaten late once again by the New York Giants and another quarterback starting to make a pretty good name for himself, too.
    Brady wasn't going to come out and say it, but he was blaming himself. Had to, because he had the ball in his hand to win the game with 57 seconds left and couldn't deliver the long touchdown drive that Patriots fans and even his teammates thought would be forthcoming.

    February 6, 2012

  • HORNING: 'Too early to tell who will impact Sooners'

    I have this line kicking around in my head. I want to share it, but not use it. I want to say something profound about Oklahoma’s national signing day experience without becoming part of the national signing day hype machine.

    Here it is:

    Consider the Sooners 1-0 heading into next season.

    It’s awful, really.

    Also, true.

    Not much longer than a month ago, OU had a small and likely very effective verbally committed 2012 recruiting class. It was high on quality but low on quantity.

    Wednesday, a positively beaming Bob Stoops introduced the class high above Owen Field. The class he unveiled was high on quality and quantity: 26 in all, six of them already enrolled.

    February 2, 2012

  • DAHLBERG: From cancer to Super Bowl for Herzlich

    The player on the screen was a 6-foot-4, 246-pound bundle of fury, flying across the field in search of another target to attack. Mark Herzlich watched himself over and over again, slamming into opponents, busting up plays and generally creating havoc for the Boston College defense.
    The video he made in a college class kept him going as he sat for hours at a time for the chemotherapy he prayed would make his cancer go away.

    February 2, 2012

Poll

Over the past two weeks the price of a gallon of gas has jumped more than 20 cents. As of Wednesday, it cost 3.64. What do you attribute the sudden rise in cost?

Refineries changing blends
Holiday approaching
World markets
Don't know
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