John Taylor said:

OU 1-2 weeks away from timetable for Bradford's return

Not only is it unclear as to when Sam Bradford can return from his shoulder injury, Oklahoma is still a week or two away from even setting a timetable for the quarterback's return.

And that's not even the worst news for the Sooners.

According to Sooner head coach Bob Stoops, Bradford is suffering from a Grade 2 or Grade 3 sprain of the AC joint in his throwing shoulder, not the minor Grade 1 sprain the program was hoping for.

Based on an article appearing on Tulsa World's website yesterday morning, that could potentially be season-crushing news for the Sooners -- assuming the words "Grade" and "Type" mean the same thing. (Is there a doctor in the house?)

Athletes can usually return to sports from the most minor form of the injury -- known as Type I -- in 1-2 weeks, according to emedicine.com, a Web site powered by WebMD. It's unclear if a quarterback with an injured throwing shoulder could return in that time frame.

Type II cases are more severe and can require the shoulder to be immobilized for up to a month, according to the Web site. After that, an athlete would be forbidden from heavy lifting for 6-8 more weeks.

Type III cases are even more severe and can require surgery.

In other words, if the initial diagnosis of a Grade/Type 2/II or 3/III sprain is confirmed, Oklahoma will be without the services of the reigning Heisman winner for a very long time.

Even Stoops seems fully aware that Bradford could indeed be sidelined for an extended period of time.

"A lot of it depends on how he heals and how he feels as he's healing here through the week," Stoops said. "In the end, it's going to be a while before we know what the plan will be."

@dencyguy said:

I agree. Dick Schaap was one of a kind. I know a couple of people who've worked there and if you notice, "journalists" have been replaced with "non-journalists". The production meetings basically go like this:

1) Boston vs. New York (baseball or football) always leads.

2) Tiger

3) Brett Favre

4) Crime

5) East Coast and Lakers

6) Everything else.

This is in addition to the pressure to come up with "scoops" which...on a slow news day could be "Brett Favre Watch Continues. Today he sat on his mower."

Disgusting. They'd rather report "non-news" about #1-3 than any real news about someone not in the top 5.

@earl34 said:

Par for the course for ESPN...the "guess-and-some-is-bound-to-be-true" network.

Yep. The funny thing was watching Mitch Albom join in and cry about Bonds's lack of integrity at his job after getting suspended from the Free Press for making up stories about games he didn't actually attend. Although in fairness to Albom, it's not like his newspaper should have been interested in Michigan State at the Final Four.

Back in the day, though, the show was actually worth watching. Nobody's done it better than Dick Schaap, and every week they had actual discussions about sports with people like Whitlock, Conlan, Kornheiser, Wilbon, and Ryan (before they started becoming ESPN "personalities" and the shows became about them rather than the games themselves).

I don't know when ESPN lost its way, but the whole network can pretty much suck it now. I enjoy PTI, but I can't recall the last time I watched any one of their studio shows from start to finish. Even Sportscenter is awful now.

Dennis

@dencyguy said:

When you're sharing a panel with Mike Lupica and Mitch Albom and you still manage to say something that laps their Retardation levels by two or three times, you deserve a cookie.

Dennis

This show is the absolute epitome of why ESPN has gone down the toilet. Jason Whitlock was banned because he wouldn't go along with Mike Lupica's agenda to bash Barry Bonds (this was before there was any real evidence known publicly against Bonds). For sticking to his journalistic integrity...he was canned.

Par for the course for ESPN...the "guess-and-some-is-bound-to-be-true" network.

@dencyguy said:

When you're sharing a panel with Mike Lupica and Mitch Albom and you still manage to say something that laps their Retardation levels by two or three times, you deserve a cookie.

Dennis

I used to love this show back in the early 90's on. However, Mitch Albom lives in fantasy land and Lupica is like a little kid who thinks he is really cool. Conlan from Philly used to be a riot but I think he lost all his stock when he admitted to not voting Nolan Ryan as a first ballot HOFer.

Whitlock is a huge fan of HBO's 'The Wire' and it is my favorite show ever, so I appreciate the props he brings to that and the creator David Simon. He actually did a whole show about it once filling in for Jim Rome. Whitlock plays the race card but he'll do it both ways.

The show would be better if they brought in more guys from different markets and alternated them. Bob Ryan does nothing for me, although when John Saunders hosts it appears to be the best.

When you're sharing a panel with Mike Lupica and Mitch Albom and you still manage to say something that laps their Retardation levels by two or three times, you deserve a cookie.

Dennis

@chumpchange said:

I watched the game, and before he was injured, Bradford was really getting pushed around by the defense.

He should have taken the money last year, at his peak value. If this is how the Sooners perform against a Mountain West defense, thing don't look so hot for the year.

I think he will be fine. It's not like the Big 12 plays defense anyway.

I watched the game, and before he was injured, Bradford was really getting pushed around by the defense.

He should have taken the money last year, at his peak value. If this is how the Sooners perform against a Mountain West defense, thing don't look so hot for the year.

Bradford should have left with the rest of his team last year.

Very Fake Al Davis said:

And just to think, at least a few of these BYU guys aren't even 30 yet!

@earl34 said:

#3...Evans

@dan-in-florida said:

Having four new starters will do that to a line. You could tell they wanted to have their RB's control the game, but all the penalties forced them to throw the ball.

With Bradford out, it looks like Oklahoma DT Gerald McCoy (#93) is taking over - his pressure forced Max Hall into throwing that pick. He's incredibly quick for a guy his size (6'4", 297 lbs.).

mz. said:

I sympathize a little with their DC's predicament. While Arthur Jones is a beast of a run-stuffer, he isn't the dominant pass-rusher that guys like Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy are.

To compensate for that, they tried dropping #97 into coverage, which - like all the bubble screens in the first half - worked well...just not long enough to win the game.

It was a tough loss, but I liked a lot of what I saw: Paulus, except for two bad plays, showed some poise; Mike Williams looks like a legit big play guy, if Paulus can get him the ball; and the run D was solid.

Not a fun game to watch slip away, but the positives were there.

Aloysius said:

More info as it comes in.

Wow, you were all over that. Just seen it on tv and then check this page on crackberry.

Good job, keep it up.

He stayed down on the turf, then was helped off the field by the training staff.