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Oklahoma Baseball: Celebrating Can Wait Until the Mission is Accomplished

The Sooners flashed some emotion after qualifying for Omaha and almost did so again after making the championship series, but the real party is for later.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma Baseball: Celebrating Can Wait Until the Mission is Accomplished
Oklahoma Baseball: Celebrating Can Wait Until the Mission is Accomplished

OMAHA — When it was over and the Oklahoma Sooners had clinched their spot in the championship series, there was no over-the-top celebration.

No dogpile on the pitcher’s mound. No Gatorade (or Powerade) baths.

Just a few hugs. A few dozen high-fives. And smiles. Lots of smiles.

The muted scene essentially sent a message to whichever team emerges from Thursday’s Arkansas-Ole Miss rematch: There’s no reason to celebrate yet because this Oklahoma team isn’t done. The mission hasn’t been accomplished.

“It still feels kind of surreal,” said pitcher David Sandlin.

Coach Skip Johnson explained that he was “real emotional” after OU eliminated Texas A&M 5-1 on Wednesday.

“It might not seem like I am,” Johnson acknowledged.

OU (45-22) will be trying to win its third national championship in school history when the Sooners do take the field on Saturday (6 p.m.) and Sunday (2 p.m.). Monday’s game, if necessary, is also set for 6 p.m.

“Going into the championship series or whatever,” said catcher Jimmy Crooks, “I think we're just going to just stay calm and relaxed and just play our game.”

When OU knocked off No. 4 national seed Virginia Tech in the Blacksburg Super Regional, the idea that the season-long goal of getting to Omaha had been reached ignited a slightly more demonstrative although still relatively brief celebration. Players dumped a Powerade bucket on Johnson. They jumped around and sprayed each other with water bottles.

But everybody realized that the dogpile only happens at the end. The very end.

“I think those kids are focused,” Johnson said. “I don't know if it's dogpiling or whatever it is. I mean, it's kind of weird sometimes. I don't tell them not to dogpile, I can tell you that.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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