Thursday, April 20, 2006

An Open Letter to Kelvin Sampson

Dear Coach Sampson,

You don't act as if you are aware of this but you have moved out of the state of Oklahoma. Now that you are the men’s basketball head coach at one of the premier program’s in the country it’s time to let bygones be bygones.

So what that the whiners from the north turned you in for cheating, so did your good pal Bobby Knight. And who really cares that OSU negatively recruited against you. I imagine that just about every school in America practices negative recruiting at one point or another. Who knows what a coach is going to say to a kid when he is desperate to land him in his program.

Here is a news flash for you. You cheated! I am a supporter of yours and will follow Indiana basketball now along with my beloved Sooners but you did cheat and you got caught. It is not OSU or Texas Tech’s fault that you got caught it is your own because you are the one who cheated. Bye the way if you don’t use up all your cell phone minutes you get to roll them over to the next month.

So as a Sooner fan I think it is time that you move on. Understanding that you have moved to Bloomington means that you don’t care what goes on in Stillwater or Lubbock anymore. I understand you bitterness after 12 years of coaching and recruiting against these two schools but now you need to worry about what Michigan, Iowa and Ohio State are doing.

So take solace in the fact that in your final season at Oklahoma you went 4-0 against the two coaches that hated you the most and vice-versa. Neither of those two coaches went to the Big Dance and you did even though you took an early first round exit your enemies had to watch from the couch.

Take solace in the fact that after losing to you one of the coaches went on a drinking binge, endangered lives and smashed a university vehicle subsequently keeping him from the hall of fame and ending his storied career. His last game on the bench was a loss to you and he will now forever be remembered as an old drunk. You think you have had a tough year try being a Sutton.

Finally take solace in the fact that you got Bobby Knight’s job! While he is buried in mediocrity cussing out chancellors over a salad in west Texas you are top dawg at one of the basketball Mecca’s. You are the man at the school that fired Knight. You are rubbing elbows and schmoozing it up with his friends. You are living in his house so to speak.

I hope this letter helps you realize that it is you who really got the last laugh. So understand that it really is time to move on and go live the high life. Know that there are Oklahomans who will be cheering for you to win Big 10 Championships and go deep into the tournament, as long as you don’t cross our Sooners along the way, but we really don’t want to hear you talk about Oklahoma State anymore. There is a new guy in Norman who will learn to do that in due time.

Good luck coach and goodbye.
Dolphinfan