Oklahoma Sports Report
Diane Murphree introduced this week’s speaker as a “local treasure, an award-winning sports writer and just a good person.” Berry Tramel, entertained Sooner Rotarians during the January 17th meeting answering questions and sharing his comments on Oklahoma’s sports programs, individual players and the fans that follow them.
Tramel told Rotarians that the winning Oklahoma teams have experienced is not normal. He suggested fans have become spoiled by so much success. He said fans shouldn’t gripe when things don’t go our way but rather simply enjoy it when it does. He said the sports industry was created to entertain and enjoy and not to drag us down.
Next Tramel answered questions from the audience in an insightful and candid manner. He was asked about personalities, Big 12 politics and even performance enhancing drugs.
When asked about Russell Westbrook, Tramel called him “the greatest show on earth,” and when asked if he thinks he would leave OKC, he quipped that maybe more people should tell Westbrook to leave, because he usually does the opposite of what people tell him to do.
When quizzed about Brent Venables’ head coach prospects, Tramel said some people wait for the right thing to come along and sometimes it never does. He also emphasized that sometimes “you don’t mess with happy.” He said too many people sacrifice happiness by chasing money or fame. He suggested maybe Venables is in a comfortable place right now.
When asked, he gave his take on the problems faced by the Texas football program as well as his thoughts on the likeliness of attracting other great ball players to the Thunder. He told the group he didn’t think performance enhancing drugs were as prevalent in the NBA because the season is too demanding. He brought laughter as he qualified the statement saying he couldn’t make the same claim about marijuana.
Finally, when asked about his opinion on whether OU or OSU would win the conference championship next year, he said he thinks OU will win. He said they usually play well against OSU; He laughed and said “there’s no point spitting in the wind.”
Tramel wrapped things up telling the group that he attributes his love of writing and sports to his father who subscribed to four newspapers while he was growing up. He said he developed an aptitude for reading and writing early in life. “I literally have the best job in the state—and that is something I don’t take lightly”. He said “I love what I do, I’m good at what I do and I think I was born to do what I do.”