05-29-2013

M ay 2 9 -J u n e 4 2 013

the story behind

parking Campus: Attendant talks about her job monitoring lots at OU. (Page 2)

Artists join to provide relief for tornado victims L&A: The Music 4 Moore benefit concert in OKC Wednesday will donate funds to relief efforts.

(Page 5)

From infancy to postseason team in five short years Sports: The Sooners won two conference titles en route to program’s first NCAA Championship berth. (Page 7)

2

• May 29-June 4, 2013

Brandon Snake writes a ticket for a car parked at an expired meter behind Robertson Hall. Summer parking permits will be required in student lots beginning June 3.

OU parking control assistant explains hardship of duties BENNETT HALL

CHUNCHUN ZHU/THE DAILY

Campus Reporter

Editor’s note: Gail chose to use her first name because of concerns for her safety.

‘‘

When Gail started working as an OU parking control assistant five years ago, it wasn’t the desire to dispense justice to unruly drivers who attracted her to the job.

It was just the best option she had to support her family in the tough economy, she said.

“We get here around 7:30 and are out the door by 8:00,” she said. “We carry everything we need on us, which is about 10 pounds of gear.

It’s our office.”

This office of sorts, which is stored in the many shirt We carry everything and cargo shorts pockets that are part of Gail’s and we need on us, her co-worker’s uniforms, which is about 10 consists of everything from pounds of gear. It’s ticket paper and envelopes to a computer and printer our office.” for distributing the tickets, Gail said.

GAIL, “We just start walking OU PARKING CONTROL ASSISTANT around campus and checking every car we see for correct permits,” she said.

She often can spot a car that is parked illegally without even checking for a permit because she remembers it as a recurring offender by its color and model.

When students are in time crunches between going to classes and juggling outside activities, the crowded midday parking lots across campus sometimes cause them to knowingly park where they know they will get a ticket.

That’s how Taylor Ogle, criminal justice sophomore, racked up about $1,200 in parking tickets last year while living in the residence halls.

Her daytime parking options were slim, and many of the dorm parking lots were far away, so she sometimes would

use priority parking spaces, she said.

Ogle takes responsibility for getting tickets because she knows she’s parking where she’s not allowed to, she said.

She is annoyed, however, by the university’s parking options rather than the parking control assistants for doing their jobs, she said.

“I think the parking policies are fair, Ogle said. “I just think we need more parking lots. There are not enough spaces, and this is why people get tickets.”

However, others take their frustration out on the assistants themselves, Gail said.

There are those who peacefully and promptly pay their parking tickets, which are usually $45 charges for permit-related offenses, but there also are those who are verbally abusive toward Gail and her co-workers when they see the parking control assistants doing their jobs, she said.

There are many different ways for students and faculty to learn where they can and cannot park on campus, such as calling the Parking and Transportation Services office or checking the morning parking updates on Twitter, but many people don’t seek this information, Gail said.

“People will park [illegally] and then yell at me because they didn’t know the rules. I find that very frustrating.”

And these tickets are not prevalent only among students but also faculty.

“I had a professor, who I know has been here longer than

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I have, yell at me for writing him a ticket at a parking meter,” Gail said.

The prolific ticket-giving, which numbered at about 50,000 citations last year, is less about a lack of available parking lots on campus and more about people taking drastic measures because there is no available parking right outside the door to their classrooms, said Vicky Holland, OU Parking Services spokeswoman “To me, the rules are necessary, or else we would have people parking on Mrs. Boren’s roses,” she said.

While parking lot expansions have focused on areas at the South Campus in recent years, there are no current parking expansion projects planned for anywhere on the Norman campus, Holland said.

AT A GLANCE Finding the best parking • Follow @OUparking on Twitter for live updates of the best spots to park on campus between 8 and 10 a.m. every weekday.

• Call the Parking Services office at 405-325-3311 for more information on available spots or how to secure a permit.

May 29-June 4, 2013 •

W

3

AFTER THE STORM

hen he emerged from the bathroom, he knew four things. His dog was dead, his house was destroyed and his hand was injured, maybe broken, but he was OK. Paighten Harkins Campus Editor

Editor’s Note: Paragraph 14 has graphic content about the death of an animal that may be disturbing to some readers.

Garrett McKibben, psychology senior, was sitting in his bathtub when he began to appreciate the complexities of fate and its mysteries.

Had he gotten in the bathtub a second earlier, he would have died. Had he gotten in a second later, he would have died.

By some magnificent stroke of luck, he got in at exactly the right time — at the crossroads of life and death — and he came out living.

McKibben was in his home in Moore, Okla., when the May 20 EF5 twister ripped through the city, leaving miles of the town racked with destruction, disarray and death. The tornado tore through his neighborhood, killing his dog and reducing his childhood home to an unorganized and scattered arrangement of splintered wood and tattered furniture.

Earlier that day, when McKibben saw the tornado warning for the county, he didn’t think much of it. Being a lifetime Moore resident, he’d grown desensitized to severe weather.

In the past, when people made a big deal about tornadoes, the storms didn’t amount to much more than wind that just “pick up trash,” he said.

This tornado was different.

This tornado was 2,640 yards wide and traveled a little over 17 miles, leaving 24 dead in its wake and 240 wounded, according to the latest reports. This tornado picked up houses, cars and trampolines — much more than just trash.

This was the type of tornado you needed to be underground or in a safe room to escape from injury or death, Norman Fire Marshal James Fullingim said.

“This type of tornado, we’re fortunate we don’t get them very often,” he said.

McKibben couldn’t get underground, though, so when the news reports indicated the tornado was about a mile from his house he headed to his bathroom with his dog of

eight years — Hercules.

He grabbed a pillow from his room, ran to the bathroom with his dog and slammed the door. In seconds, he could hear the dishes in the kitchen start shaking, eventually shattering.

Then the door blew open.

“The next thing I knew, I felt slimy fur and a lifeless dog in my hand,” he said.

It was 10 seconds of what could only be described as pure hell — the scariest moment of his life — because as every millisecond passed, he couldn’t guarantee he’d have another one to spend alive, he said.

Those 10 seconds seemed suspended, like a frightening limbo, he said. Yet, time went by quickly at the same time.

While McKibben rode out the storm from his bathroom, another Sooner waited out the storm in the now demolished Moore Medical Center with a friend.

“I thought it was a nightmare,” information studies junior Catherine Diep said,

$2B 101 estimated damage cost

people injured

24 fatalities

Source: newson6 website; news channel 4 website thinking back to how she felt in the aftermath of the storm.

As the tornadoes hit, a message was broadcast through the PA system announcing a code black — a dangerous storm — and everyone needed to take proper precautions. Diep and her friend ended up in the cafeteria as the tornado approached; neither thought the storm would be as powerful or destructive as it was.

“I didn’t think something like this would ever happen. But the doors flew open and smoke and debris engulfed the room. The room was shaking,” she said.

The tornado was near her for only a few seconds, but after it was over, everything around her had changed. She no longer was in a hospital — it was a war zone.

The walls had collapsed around her and everything was smoky. Outside cars were piled on top of one another. The 7/11 across the street no longer was there, she said.

“I never imagined that what I see on the news would happen to me. I am still in disbelief,” Diep said.

McKibben echoed similar feelings of

shock regarding the rapid change.

After he weathered the storm, he felt intense relief and also sadness, because in less than a minute everything around him — everything he’d known for the past 10 years — had changed or was gone.

“It’s like you got in a time machine and traveled to a post-apocalyptic world or something,” he said.

Looking back at the decisions he made that Monday, McKibben wouldn’t change anything. It’s like because it happened a certain way, it was meant to happen that way. It was like fate.

Maybe the hallway closet, filled with VHS tapes he thought would fall and hit his head as the tornado went through, would have been a better choice. The tornado didn’t even touch it.

He didn’t make that choice, though, and he’s not going to fight the choices he made.

Yes, he lost his dog and his home, but he didn’t lose his life and that’s what matters.

“I won’t go back and should-have, could-have,” he said. “I’m alive now, and I can’t argue against it.”

photos provided

Top: Psychology senior Garrett McKibben stands between his and his neighbor’s house. He was in the bathroom inside the wall of the house on the left when the EF5 twister hit May 20 in Moore.

Bottom: Cars lay in a pile after the tornado hit May 20, 2013 at the Moore Medical Center.

4

• May 29-June 4, 2013

May 29-June 4, 2013 •

EDITORIAL

Don’t let your brain turn to mush this summer break

Our view: Resting during the

summer is great, but don’t turn your brain completely off. Take classes, pick up a hobby, just do something.

It’s finally summer — the three blissful months students spend the entire year looking forward to. For some of us, summer is all about relaxing. It is spent relaxing by the pool, sleeping late and not thinking about anything we learned during the last two semesters. Though this might be the type of summer most have in mind when driving away from campus after finals are handed in, it may not be the most beneficial thing for students to do.

Summer is when most students lose vital information they have learned over the year. Because of this, many primary and secondary schools in other countries, such as Australia, France and Brazil, are opting for a year-round alternative that includes small breaks over the course of the year but no prolonged absences from the classroom. Students attend school in four blocks lasting nine to 11 weeks with a two-week break between each.

One benefit of this type of schedule is students need less time to review when classes begin again. Students lose up to two months of skill progress in areas such as reading and math.

The best way to keep students brains on a forward track is to

RYAN BOYCE/THE DAILY

(From left) Kory Myers and Haven “Bud” Hardage, architecture seniors, work on a competition project in Gould Hall’s Competition Room. Myers and Hardage, who became aware of the competition through their junior acoustics course, will spend their summer designing a Montreal opera house.

keep minds engaged all year.

A year-round school calendar has been implemented in some parts of the U.S., as well, including schools in California and some in Minnesota.

Though college is an entirely The Our View different world is the majority opinion of than that of high The Daily’s school or grade seven-member school, we still editorial board are affected by the lapse in learning summer has. During the year, we are learning things critical to our success as professionals after college; what we are learning now is what our future employment will be based on. So, we too should make the effort to keep ourselves engaged over the summer months.

As college students, we also

have the opportunity to take summer classes. You can use it as a time to get ahead on required classes or as a chance to take a class that always has interested you. Scholarships are available for summer classes, which only last a few weeks. Students can get a plethora of information without dedicating a full semester. Take advantage of the opportunity and make your summer the most productive one yet.

Instead of spending days playing countless video games and neglecting all academic material from previous semesters, re-read some books, do a Sudoku or do the crossword in your morning paper. Don’t let things go stagnant — exercise your brain.

Comment on this on OUDaily. com.

COLUMN

TORNADO RELIEF

MUSIC FESTIVAL

OU Confessions benefited campus

LIFE & ARTS COLUMNIST

Alex Niblett is a journalism junior.

LUKE REYNOLDS

Life & Arts Reporter

It took less than one day after the brutal twister in Moore, Okla., for the communities in the Oklahoma City area to come together and orchestrate a relief concert to raise money and awareness for those who suffered.

Behind the effort were Steven White and Jonathan Fowler, who also coordinated Norman Music Festival.

“Compared to what some of our friends are going through in Moore, putting this benefit together is easy,” White said. “We started talking and texting about this benefit right after the storm and had most of the talent booked by the end of the day.”

More than 20 performers are going to the event and will play on three stages from 4 p.m. until 12 a.m.

Wednesday.

Among some of the headliners are JD McPherson, Wanda Jackson, Colourmusic and Parker Millsap.

“I don’t think it was very difficult for [Jackson] to decide to perform at all,” said Jon Hensley, Jackson’s media coordinator. “She still has lots of family in Oklahoma City and despite the short notice, she was on board from the beginning.”

The Music 4 Moore tornado relief concert will be held at the Chevy Bricktown E v e n t s C e n t e r, 4 2 5 E .

D

ozens of bands and thousands of fans will descend on Ozark, Ark., Thursday for the 10th annual Wakarusa Music Festival.

With five stages active throughout the day, it can Mark Brockway be difficult to pick out your mark.d.brockway@ou.edu favorite bands. Whether you’re a hillbilly or a hipster, you can find tons of great music. Here is my breakdown of the best bands to see.

W

e all have our favorite pastimes that keep us sane throughout the semester. Mine was the entertaining Facebook page called OU Confessions.

Unfortunately, on May 13, the page was officialAlex Niblett ly declared dead. This alexandra.g.niblett@ou.edu doesn’t mean there is no longer a place to openly express your real opinion of a professor, your GPA that has seen better days, what you did last night or some other completely random confession.

It’s just the end of the Facebook confessions community.

I talked with one of the creators, Lance Bowman, about how the page was started, why it was started and what he learned from the experience.

Bowman originally started a confessions page for San Diego State University, where he was a student. The idea was inspired by his friend who started a confessions page for the University of Arizona. Bowman and a few of his friends collaborated and launched these pages for several additional schools, one being OU. Bowman said OU’s online community carried a fresh element compared to other schools, including his own.

He said most of the schools’ confession pages had five topics: sex, greeks vs. GDI, sports, drugs and how students were flunking out of school.

“You guys were unique in how you guys debated politics ... you guys got really invested,” Bowman said.

Way to keep it classy, OU. Bowman explained he learned quite a bit from this experience.

“I learned how to talk to large groups of people, how to manage others and how to lead,” Bowman said.

The webpage launched Feb. 13. While the page continuously grew in number of viewers and likes, Bowman said he couldn’t run the page anymore because of the amount of stress that came with the admin job.

I was one of the 3,560 students and strangers that liked the page and leisurely visited it often to enjoy some of the OU students’ strongly opinionated, downright hilarious quotes. If you had a confession you weren’t able to post, don’t feel bummed. Bowman created a new website called campusconfessions.org , where confessing and commenting is easier for both the admin and students.

OU Confessions is a brilliant idea and a great way to form a community within a community. Along with the challenges it imposed on the admin and the entertaining outlet it proved to be for readers, the entire concept of this page is clever and respectable to say the least.

OPINION COLUMNIST

5

PHOTO PROVIDED

JD McPherson is one of the artists who will play at the Music 4 Moore concert benefitting tornado victims.

“Compared to what some of our friends are going through in Moore, putting this benefit together is easy.”

STEVEN WHITE, MUSIC 4 MOORE COORDINATOR

California Ave., Oklahoma City. A stage outside the venue will be available for anyone to come and watch for free.

Tickets for the concert can be purchased on ticketstorm.com or at the door for $25. All of the proceeds will go to the Central and Western Oklahoma Chapters of the American Red Cross. Beverages will be provided by COOP Ale Works, Mustang Brewing Company, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Budweiser.

There also will be food trucks present, according to Ticketstorm website’s event information.

“My hope for the event is that we can raise a lot of money for the Red Cross while providing an opportunity for people to get tog ether and enjoy s ome music while supporting a great cause,” Fowler said.

Luke Reynolds reynolds.luke5@gmail.com

GO AND DO Music 4 Moore Tornado Relief Concert When: 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., Wednesday Where: Chevy Bricktown Events Center, 425 E. California Ave., Oklahoma City Price: Tickets are $25 on ticketstorm.com or at the door Lineup includes: JD McPherson, Colourmusic, Parker Millsap, The Damn Quails, Skating Polly, Evangelicals

3 p.m.

Calexico on the Main Stage 5:30 p.m.

New Monsoon at the Outpost Tent 7:15 p.m.

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe at the Revival Tent 8:30 p.m.

The Black Crowes on the Main Stage 12:30 a.m.

The Motet at the Revival Tent 1:30 p.m.

Half Moon Run on the Backwoods Stage 4 p.m.

Mountain Standard Time at the Outpost Tent 5 p.m.

Of Monsters and Men at the Revival Tent 7:15 p.m.

Umphrey’s McGee on the Main Stage 10:15 p.m.

Dispatch on the Main Stage 12:15 a.m.

Sound Tribe Sector Nine at the Revival Tent 2:30 a.m.

Galactic on the Backwoods Stage

5:45 p.m.

Grouplove on the Main Stage 7:30 p.m.

Gogol Bordello on the Main Stage 9:30 p.m.

Widespread Panic on the Main Stage 10 p.m.

Campsite So you’ve only seen three bands today and you’re ready to head back to the campsite already? Perfect.

You can listen to music as you make a bunch of new friends where the real party is.

If you survive Saturday night, I suggest you wander around aimlessly Sunday and listen to every band you stumble across. If you have played your cards right, your brain should be filled with half a dozen incredible memories from the three nights before. See what you can Sunday, then pack up and head down the road. I hope to see you there.

Mark Brockway is a political science senior.

More online at OUDaily.com

6

• May 29-June 4, 2013

PLACE AN AD Phone: 405-325-2521 E-mail: classifieds@ou.edu

L

Fax: 405-325-7517 Campus Address: COH 149A

DEADLINES Line Ad ..................................................................................3 days prior Place line ad by 9:00 a.m. 3 business days prior to publication.

Display Ad ............................................................................3 days prior Classified Display or Classified Card Ad Place your display, classified display or classified card ads by 5:00 p.m. 3 business days prior to publication.

The Oklahoma Daily is responsible for one day’s incorrect advertising.

If your ad appears incorrectly, or if you wish to cancel your ad call 3252521, before the deadline for cancellation in the next issue. Errors not the fault of the advertiser will be adjusted. Refunds will not be issued for late cancellations.

The Oklahoma Daily will not knowingly accept advertisements that discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religious preference, national origin or sexual orientation. Violations of this policy should be reported to The Oklahoma Daily Business Office at 325-2521.

Help Wanted ads in The Oklahoma Daily are not to separate as to gender. Advertisers may not discriminate in employment ads based on race, color, religion or gender unless such qualifying factors are essential to a given position.

All ads are subject to acceptance by The Oklahoma Daily. Ad acceptance may be re-evaluated at any time.

HELP WANTED

LOST & FOUND A male wedding band was found on the north side of the Engineering Lab (Asp & Felgar).

Call 325-5570

C Transportation

AUTO INSURANCE

Auto Insurance Quotations Anytime

POLICY

Previous Solution

Monday- Very Easy Tuesday-Easy Wednesday- Easy Thursday- Medium Friday - Hard

Instructions: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box.

J Housing Rentals

Lost & Found

Foreign Students Welcomed

JIM HOLMES INSURANCE, 321-4664

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Pre-employment drug testing is required.

EEO

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Universal Crossword Edited by Timothy E. Parker May 29, 2013

ACROSS 1 Not bold 6 Dinner’s often on him 10 Cleopatra’s love 14 Gladiator’s place 15 Went like the dickens 16 Polo played there?

17 Be an inquisitive tutee 20 Havana residue 21 Foreign currency 22 Greek Catholic, e.g.

23 Make confused 25 What Simon does 26 Matter of contention 28 Free from germs 32 Feminine side, to Jung 34 Math branch, briefly 35 Die spot 38 Mull over an opportunity 42 It’s in front of the tee 43 Heavy horse cart 44 Warbler’s sound 45 Gen. Omar 48 Successfully persuade 49 ___ au Haut, Maine

5/29

51 Hard-___ (tough) 53 Confront boldly 55 Wrapped garment 56 Spleen 59 Not opt for mediocrity 62 “Cheers� barfly 63 A train glides along it 64 Rue the loss of 65 Fliers over the water 66 Burrowing insectivore 67 On the ocean blue DOWN 1 Spanish bar food 2 Flower with a bulb 3 Auto shop employees 4 It looks good on paper 5 Not terribly current 6 35.3cubic-feet measures 7 Timber wolf 8 “Bobby Hockey�

9 Swain 10 “Flashdance� hit 11 Analyze gold ore 12 Goes on a rampage 13 Sidewalk eatery

YOUR TURN

18 Dance for a luau 19 Perceptiveness 24 Moore of filmdom 26 Expressed, as a welcome 27 You get five for a fiver 29 Anti-knock fuel 30 Historic introduction?

31 Tat exchange?

33 Postal matter 35 Kneeling benches 36 “___ do� (faint praise) 37 Survey 39 Historical segment 40 Big spender’s roll

41 It’s heard in the Highlands 45 Bears flowers 46 Pave the way for 47 Knight time?

49 Blood of the Greek gods 50 It may be heaped on someone 52 Frat letter 53 Facial outbreak 54 Six years, for a senator 55 Potting need 57 Barely cooked 58 Volcano that devastated Catania 60 Chinese “way�

61 Turn rancid

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HOROSCOPE

By Bernice Bede Osol

Copyright 2012, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013 Things look good in the romance and friendship departments in coming months, but you could have problems with the management of your resources. Be careful and budget-conscious.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) --Finally, accelerated progress is likely to occur in an endeavor that has been slow to move. You might even be able to make up for lost time.

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GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- Go out of your way to associate with friends who always stimulate your thinking. An active conversation with such types might stir up several useful ideas.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- Your thinking will be unusually sharp in a work-related matter. Your colleagues are likely to be impressed by some of your ingenious tactics.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- If you have a good idea regarding a way to improve a sluggish relationship, put it in action. Anything is worth a try to reinvigorate this valuable connection.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) --Substantial progress in the workplace can be made through innovative thinking on your part.

Don’t be reluctant to take a chance.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- If you take the time to talk to a casual acquaintance, you’ll discover that you share many interests. This could be the start of a close friendship.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) --There is a strong chance that unusual circumstances will lead to a peculiar opportunity. There’s something to gain, but you’ll have to act with all due haste.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) --You won’t find a better day to get involved in a social activity that has caught your interest. It could prove to be worthwhile and exciting.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- The possibilities for making some good purchases look better than usual, especially regarding a large item that can be used by your entire household. Look around a little.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- As it often does, the race will go to the swift today, so it behooves you to be both a self-starter and a go-getter.

Take the lead when you’re not pleased with the pace.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- The chances of some financial gain are much better than you may realize.

However, you must be able to recognize opportunity and work hard to capitalize on it.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Even though it might be a workday for you, if you can take some time off to participate in an activity with friends, try to do so.

May 29-June 4, 2013 •

7

ROWING

Program to make its postseason debut

Rowers, coaches bring home regional honors

Two conference titles solidify berth

Three members of the Oklahoma rowing program earned All-South Regional honors, the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association announced Thursday.

Coach Leeanne Crain was named the Regional Coach of the Year, and assistant coach Kelsey Witten earned the Regional Assistant Coach of the Year honor. The two regional coaching honors are the first in the program’s history, according LEEANNE to a news release.

CRAIN Crain also was named the Big 12 and Conference USA Coach of the Year. The Big 12 honor was the second time she’s been named the conference’s oach of the Year, the last time coming in 2012.

Witten’s coaching award was the first of her career, according to a news release.

Senior captain Nikki Furmanek was named to an All-Region First Team member.

The Sooners won the Big 12 title May 4 and Conference USA title May 18 to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship, the first in the program’s fiveyear history.

The Sooners return to action Friday for the program’s first trip to the NCAA Championship.

JULIA NELSON Sports Reporter

It’s been a journey for the Oklahoma rowing team.

Since its inaugural season five years ago, the team has made enormous strides, capping this year off with its first two conference titles and bid to the NCAA championship.

While Oklahoma is not the fastest team to have this kind of success, the rate at which it came is astonishing.

Five years ago, Oklahoma PHOTO PROVIDED rowing was an unknown The Oklahoma rowing team celebrates its first Conference USA title March 18 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The Sooners earned 63 team points during sport, but now Oklahoma is the conference championship thanks to first place finishes in the second varsity eight, varsity four and open four races and two runner-up a force to be reckoned with, finishes in the varsity eight and novice eight races. senior co-captain Nikki Furmanek said.

“Knowing the athletes and raise the bar even high“It’s kind of mindboggling “I want us to do well, beat to think how we’ve done so that are on this team, they er. No one expects anything some teams we’re not supGO AND DO much,” she said. “I don’t set the bar really high for out of you, and you want to posed to beat,” she said.

Rowing into the think we realize it. We always themselves, so that alone come in and prove every“The goal was really to get postseason have our head down and are has been what set the deter- body wrong.” there, and now we’ve acThe team made it though so focused on what’s next, mination of working toward complished that goal. So When: All Day, Friday its first season in 2008, and and I think that once we fi- this goal.” now we’re just working through Sunday The team’s base starts that experience proved to nally step away from it and hard to prove ourselves look back, we’re just going with its seniors, as it does be invaluable as the seasons even more.”

Where: Indianapolis to be in awe of everything with any team. Leadership progressed. As more athletes Furmanek thinks the How Qualified: Won comes from those with the came into the program, the we’ve done.” team is in the perfect Big 12 and Conference most experience. original group’s leadership However, coach spot to do well, she said.

USA titles But when a pro- shone through.

Leeanne Crain alOklahoma always has been g ra m f i rst st a r t s Even more so, Crain atways expected sucan underdog in this sport, How to Follow: o u t , t h e r e i s n ’ t tributes the team’s achievecess to come quickso the team plans to go into Get updates from that senior lead- ment to the amount of time ly at a school like the postseason with a chip soonersport.com’s ership to rely on spent together and the Oklahoma. on its shoulder.

Championship Central and the freshmen bonds the athletes have “When I came page “We’ve never let any must learn to lead formed. Practicing every to [OU], I knew the success go to our heads themselves. morning, taking the bus totradition of excel- NIKKI because we know we’re “It’s kind of neat gether to the Oklahoma City Seeded No. 17, they are not always kind of the underlence here both ac- FURMANEK because you walk boathouse and seeing one expected to make a huge dog,” Furmanek said. “We ademically and in on as freshman and another’s best and worst splash this year. the athletic realm,” have to keep working for said Crain, the program’s have to assume this role of sides are what keeps this However, the team wants the next thing; we can’t first coach. “So I knew we a senior athlete,” Furmanek team close and successful, to turn a few heads. It hopes lose sight of the end goal.” could build the program, we said. “You have to take on she said. to beat a few teams noThe Sooners will draw body expects them to beat, just needed to get the right that leadership position staff in place and the right from the get-go and not be on that relationship as they co-captain senior Rebecca Julia Nelson, afraid to set that foundation go into the championship. Staff said. athletes. julia.nelson@ou.edu

Daily Staff Reports

8

• May 29-June 4, 2013

SPORTS BRIEFS

COLUMN

Three factors that are helping OU stay in title contention SPORTS COLUMNIST

Joe Mussatto jmussatto@ou.edu

T

he No. 1 Oklahoma softball team begins its quest for its second national title in school histor y as the Women’s College World Series begins Thursday at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

Of the eight remaining teams, Oklahoma is the topseed and owns the best season record. The Sooners (524) have been situated atop the polls since week two of the season and have cruised through the postseason with a 5-0 record.

Besides the dominant onetwo pitching punch of seniors Keilani Ricketts and Michelle Gascoigne and having one of the nation’s deepest and most powerful lineups, here are three crucial factors that will help Oklahoma moving forward.

1. The Experience: In the third and final game o f l a s t y e a r ’s Na t i o n a l Championship series, Oklahoma fell to Alabama and watched the Crimson Tide celebrate the title. Being one victory away from the ultimate prize not only has given Oklahoma motivation throughout the season but also invaluable experience heading into this season’s Women’s College

BASEBALL

Big 12 champions head to Blacksburg, Va., for regional play

After winning the Big 12 Tournament and finishing the season with 40 wins for the fifth straight season, the OU baseball team will start its postseason run toward Omaha in the Blacksburg Regional in Blacksburg, Va. The Sooners (40-19) will participate in the regional against host-Virginia Tech, Coastal Carolina and Connecticut. The Sooners will start the regional facing Coastal Carolina, who finished the season with a 37-21 record and lost two straight games in the Big South Tournament.

This postseason trip marks OU’s sixth straight appearance and 36th overall. The Sooners advanced through the Charlottesville Regional last season before having their season end in the Columbia Super Regional against South Carolina.

During coach Sunny Golloway’s time at OU, his teams have been to seven regionals with him as the head coach and once with him as the interim head coach in 2005. The Sooners won three of those regionals in 2006, 2010 and 2012.

OU’s postseason at the Blacksburg Regional begins at noon Friday at English Field. The game can be seen via webcast on ESPN3.

Daily Staff Reports

MEN’S GOLF

Sooners finish day one of NCAA Championships in sixth place

ASTRUD REED/THE DAILY

Senior pitcher Keilani Ricketts throws her 16th shutout of the season to help OU win the Norman Super Regional over Texas A&M on Saturday in Norman.

World Series. In fact, it’s the Sooners’ third straight trip to the WCWS. OU’s upperclassmen now know what it takes to navigate the loaded bracket.

2. The Coach: And not just any coach. In her 19th season at the helm of Oklahoma, coach Patty Gasso has one of her best squads and her best chance to achieve what her 2000 team did: win the National Championship.

Gasso carries confidence

and understands what her team can do. When watching Oklahoma play, take notice of the number of “mini-meetings” Gasso calls.

The coach often motions her batter over for a quick talk or pulls her runners off the bases to give directions. It’s never quite clear what Gasso is telling her players, but whatever she’s saying works.

3. The Crowd: ASA Hall of Fame Stadium may not be as Oklahoma biased as

the home crowd at Marita Hynes Field, but it might be close. Only a half-hour drive from Norman, the site of the Women’s College World Series will be filled with fans donned in crimson. Gasso and her players constantly thank and credit their supporters, and a home-like atmosphere should be in store for the squad in OKC. Joe Mussatto is a journalism sophomore.

The Oklahoma men’s golf team finished the opening day of the NCAA Championships in Atlanta in sixth place.

The Sooners shot a team total of 278, which is good for two-under-par.

OU trails Arizona State by eight strokes, who shot a day-one total of 270. Georgia Tech, Alabama, Illinois and California also lead the Sooners, although the Crimson Tide’s day is not completed, according to the NCAA’s leaderboard.

Two Sooners, senior Abraham Ancer and sophomore Charlie Saxon, finished the day under par. Ancer shot a five-under 65, which is good for second overall, and Saxon shot one-under-par.

OU’s other three participants, junior Michael Schoolcraft, freshman Beau Titsworth and senior Will Kropp, are all over par.

Round two begins at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Daily Staff Reports