The Buzz: Football Season Sneaking up

By Sean Mossman-kotv.com More College Footbal Polls The Oklahoma Sooners emergence as pre-season number seventeen nationally in the Dallas Morning News college

Wednesday, July 26th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

By Sean Mossman-kotv.com

More College Footbal Polls

The Oklahoma Sooners emergence as pre-season number seventeen nationally in the Dallas Morning News college football poll is a pleasant surprise to some. Most preseason polls have the Sooners somewhere in the twenty-to-thirty range nationally. As of Thursday, the daily unveiling of the poll was up to number twelve. That means we should begin revealing the top ten Monday.

Big Dates

Grab your calendars and jot down the following dates if you havenâ€™t already. Pre-season NFL games begin Saturday, with Dallas playing Pittsburgh Sunday. No television is scheduled for the Dallas game yet, but a local station traditionally picks up the Silver Star Network feed of the game so keep your eyes open. The first national TV game will be the Hall of Fame Game Monday on ABC. San Francisco takes on New England, but maybe more interesting is the unveiling of the new Monday Night Football booth. Dan Fouts and Dennis Miller should be alongside Al Michaels, but reports say the network is not promoting the debut because theyâ€™d rather make a bigger deal out of the regular season debut.

Locally, college football teams report to Fall camps Saturday, August fifth. One interesting thing about that day is that student-athletes at Bacone College in Muskogee will take the field for the first time as the school begins its first year of football. Iâ€™ll have a report from their first day of practice Monday, August seventh.

Finally, the high schools begin two-a-day practices Tuesday, August eighth. High school coaches from around the state are in Oklahoma City at annual clinics. The all-state football game is Friday night at eight oâ€™clock. Iâ€™ll be on-hand at UCOâ€™s Wantland Field and will have a feature about a couple of this yearsâ€™ players ready for viewing Tuesday.

Just about every aspect of football converges the first weekend of September. High schoolâ€™s kick-off the season September first. Most colleges begin play September second and the first week of the NFL season is September third. Thatâ€™s only five weeks away gridiron fans.

Around the NFL

Here are some news and notes from around the NFL regarding players of local interest:

From Pro Football Weekly-

From Dallas Camp: â€œFourth-round draft pick Kareem Larrimore was the best of the three drafted cornerbacks early in Cowboys camp. Larrimore is running on the second team with fellow rookie Mario Edwards, a sixth-round pick. Second-round pick Dwayne Goodrich is working with the third team.â€

From Oakland Camp: â€œElijah Alexander has the upper hand in the quest to replace the departed Richard Harvey at strong-side linebacker in Oakland. (Former Sooner) Travian Smith is more talented and faster than Alexander but has yet to grasp the defensive scheme or show the instincts needed for the position.â€

From NFL.com

From Cowboys Camp: â€œThe Cowboys don't believe in paying top dollar for linebackers, so they let middle linebacker Randall Godfrey go to Tennessee in free agency. Second-year man Dat Nguyen is short, fast and productive, which fits the Cowboys' mold. He was the heir apparent, but now will be pressed by late-signing free agents Barron Wortham and (former Sooner) Joe Bowden, who started for the Titans in the Super Bowl last year.â€

From Chiefs Camp: â€œAll defensive eyes will be on the cornerback position, where the Chiefs are looking to develop two members of this year's draft class â€” second rounder (former Sooner) William Bartee and fifth-rounder Pat Dennis. So far, so good. â€˜Bartee has learned quite a few things and having (corners Cris) Dishman and (James) Hasty on the roster helps,â€™ Chiefs head coach Gunther Cunningham said. â€˜William's got tremendous ability and we've got a good mix of veterans and young guys. Pat Dennis is like Larry Atkins, who's 234 with six percent body fat. They're big men.â€™â€

Whats New

This week on kotv.com, we have a very interesting fan poll. In the light of recent comments made by Tulsa University head football coach Keith Burns about the respective directions of his program in regards to Oklahoma Stateâ€™s, weâ€™ve decided to se what you think. What will be the result of the September ninth game between TU and OSU? Votes will be tallied and results will be given during the Sunday Sports Special.

Keep your eye on our local sports page over the next few weeks. Soon weâ€™ll be unveiling our plan to cover area high school football this year. There are already several new feature lined up and more are on the way, so check that out.

Sean Mossman is a writer/producer for kotv.com. His emphasis is on local sports. Sean can be reached at 732-6228 or e-mailed at smossman@kotv.com. Any story ideas should be accompanied by a name and phone number.