Sooners throw student fans a bone
Will wonders never cease? (Photo courtesy: AP)
You know those student attendance problems that athletic departments have been squawking about lately? OU athletic director Joe Castiglione has spoken about them recently. If you need any indication about just how seriously the folks in Norman are taking them, witness this:
Oh, and then there's this:
Bob Stoops opening practice to the student body? Wearing a mic? Student coaches in the spring game? That sound is ice cubes clinking in hell.
OK, so this isn't that much, especially considering how much access OU fans once had to the program. Thirty minutes of practice should give attendees enough time to take in the squad stretching and maybe a drill or two.
Baby steps, though. This does suggest that Castiglione and Stoops realize that taking down the iron curtain just a tad is a good way to reinvigorate some enthusiasm in the student fan base. (Maybe Stoops is being made to realize it by the A.D.?)
Whatever the reasoning may be, I suspect the return on these kinds of gestures will dwarf video highlights on the jumbotron and in-stadium WiFi when it comes to keep the student section packed in the fall.