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Bob Stoops Says Criticism of Oklahoma Softball Celebrations is 'Ridiculous'

The former Sooners football coach answered a question on the topic Wednesday on KREF in Norman and thoroughly expressed his feelings.
John E. Hoover|
Bob Stoops Says Criticism of Oklahoma Softball Celebrations is 'Ridiculous'
Bob Stoops Says Criticism of Oklahoma Softball Celebrations is 'Ridiculous'

OKLAHOMA CITY — Former Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops isn’t much on criticizing young athletes for expressing emotion on the playing field.

That most definitely includes Patty Gasso’s softball squad — and Stoops said as much, with a few choice words.

Stoops addressed the topic going around water coolers and talk radio — criticism that OU softball players celebrate excessively when they get a walk at the plate or a strikeout in the circle — during his weekly segment on “The Rush” with Teddy Lehman and Tyler McComas on KREF radio in Norman.

The Sooners are in OKC preparing to face Florida State in the Women’s College World Series championship series at Hall of Fame Stadium, and they’ll bring their 59-1 record and 51-game winning streak.

They’ve spoken about it several times this week, including at Tuesday’s media day.

When asked, Stoops added his own thoughts.

“It’s ridiculous,” Stoops said. “The bottom line: they play with joy (and) passion amongst theirselves. They’re not doing anything to the other team. So pipe down. If you do that against OU, you’re gonna celebrate the same way. But the rest — that’s ridiculous. I don’t even want to hear it.

“And you know what? Here’s the thing, too: you gotta realize Patty’s team — and when you have some of these teams that just win and win and win — it can get, if you don’t have that joy and fun and passion, it can get boring. I’ve been on some teams where we win and win and win — we win and (people think) we didn’t win good enough. And the guys in the locker room, Teddy, you know this, the guys in the locker room, everybody’s quiet.

“Bull---. You always celebrate a win. You celebrate good plays. You enjoy the game and you have passion and fun for the game. And to me, that best thing Patty’s got going is they love to play and they have joy playing. And if some of that is expressed, so be it.”

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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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