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Berry Tramel is still a curmudgeon…

2:23 PM EDT on September 17, 2015

berry tramel

One of the media driven controversies from the OU - Tennessee contest was the behavior of some OU players on the field following the game. As Gravy Train referenced in his article on Monday, Hatari Byrd was caught on camera flipping off the rabid Tennessee fan base, and Eric Striker went on a rant in the end-zone:

Oh my god. Can you believe it? Eric Striker said the words "Fuck" and "Shit" in the same sentence just seconds after participating in a violent, intense, sporting spectacle where big, fast, strong men spend 60 minutes risking severe injury to chase, cripple and beat the living shit out of each other. How awful of him to use such offensive language!

In all seriousness, who cares. And I'm not just saying that as an OU fan. If Jethro Jones did this for OSU after the Central Arkansas Vo-Tech game on Saturday, I wouldn't care. Granted, I'd make some jokes about it and everything, but honestly, who gives a fuck? I actually like it when players interact and talk trash with the fans. They're called the 12th man for a reason. It makes the games more fun.

Of course, don't tell that to Boomer Tramel. He penned a ridiculously out-of-touch, behind-the-times article about the "controversy" in Tuesday's paper:

OU linebacker Eric Striker went on a profanity-laced tirade Saturday night on the Neyland Stadium grass, talking smack to Tennessee fans four days after questioning all the SEC football hype.

Monday night, the university issued a statement in which Striker apologized. But I'm betting Striker is a little confused.

The last time Striker dropped f-bombs all over the world wide web, OU made him a campus leader and eventually captain of the football team.

Welcome to the 21st century.

Sensibilities of some, no, many Sooner fans were offended by Striker and OU safety Hatari Byrd, who lived up to his name by flashing the middle-finger salute at Volunteer fans. It's mystifying to us why such actions are satisfying; breaking from one of the great on-field celebrations in Sooner history, in order to trash talk strangers, seems self-defeating.

But apparently, that's the culture in which some people live.

Yep, some people really do live in that culture. And other news, apparently other people live in a different culture where it's cool to compare an angry, profanity-laced, emotional video made seconds after seeing a bus load of privileged white frat boys from your university sing and chant about hanging black people from trees to a clip of a guy talking trash to backwoods football fans on the field following a football game.

As Eric Striker would probably say, "What The Fuck?" The only similarity between the two videos is that they included foul language and the same guy. That's it. The substance, depth, context and situations were totally different. There are no comparisons. Since that's the case, Berry stuck with it:

Part of Striker's apology included “in no way were my actions … a reflection of the way my parents raised me…”

Striker said much the same thing last spring after his Snapchat rant against the SAE fraternity video. The racist song on the video ignited a campus firestorm, and Striker became the primary spokesman for the outraged football team. Striker apologized for the language he used, not the sentiments expressed, saying his mother taught him better than that.

If Striker got such home training, he has a funny way of showing it.

The OU fans — of football and of the university — who were outraged by Striker's language have new ammunition. Those of us who defended Striker then because of the nature of the SAE video, now are hard-pressed to defend him. On the scale of social plagues, racist behavior by school-sponsored organizations rises somewhat above SEC football hype.

Really? Racist behavior by school-sponsored organizations rises somewhat above SEC football hype. I think you can say that's somewhat of a bad word choice. Seriously, how much moonshine did Berry drink in Tennessee? Did he get distracted by Steve Lackmeyer crying about the destruction of old buildings in the newsroom?

But the truth is, times have changed. For the worse, no doubt, but no less changed. That kind of language, that kind of behavior, is more common now than 30 years ago. Brian Bosworth lapped Striker as both a smack-talker and a linebacker, but if the Boz had been caught on video in 1985 saying the things that Striker said in Knoxville, it would have been bye, bye Bosworth.

Uhm, have times really changed for the worse? I'm not a certified OU football historian like Berry Tramel, but maybe he should read this 1989 Oklahoman article about the state of OU football, where they call the Sooner football legacy "one of rape, robbery, assault, manslaughter, racketeering and cocaine trafficking." Pickleman's incidents aside, it seems like things have improved at the school, and in society in general.

Here's where we figure out the inspiration for Berry's hit piece on Striker:

Striker was busting me about my wardrobe the other day, which is really funny. Not because I belong on the cover of GQ, necessarily, but because I'm usually well ahead of the curve when it comes to press corps attire. Then Striker, apparently intent on making sure I remembered I was 54, asked me if I had seen “Straight Outta Compton,” the new movie about rap group N.W.A. Asked me if I liked rap.

Hey, Eric, do I look like I like rap?

First of all, I'm pretty sure Berry Tramel just bragged about his attire, and he was being serious. That's hysterical. That would be like Dean Blevins bragging about his social media savvy. Who knew that wearing slacks, old Polos and blazers purchased from the suit sale at Goodwill is "ahead of the curve."

To pull a Mac Brown, I'll answer Berry's question for Eric. No, you do not look like you like rap. You look like you just woke up from a nap and listen to the Statler Brothers. God forbid someone be affable and ask you a sarcastic question that may remind you that you're an old, out-of-touch, curmudgeon. Berry should be aware of this by now. He is the same guy who encourages domineering fathers to buy jewelry promoting womanly values like obedience and purity for their daughters...

Also, remember back in 2008 when Berry released a now extremely dated rant against Internet message boards? It's the one that brought us the classic Berry line of "BULLFEATHERS!" (Because I guess it's okay to allude to bad word as long as you don't technically say it.)

In an insane overreaction to a hoax involving The Oklahoman, Landry Jones and cocaine, he equated message boards and their users to the scum of the universe -- members of a dark, murky, devious cult -- because you know, only people like Jenni Carlson who work for a media organization and apparently have naked pictures of Berry Tramel, Mike Sherman and Chris Reen on a flash drive are allowed to share thoughts and opinions on the Internet.

Listen, I'm not a big fan of message boards. I owned one and they can be awful, but did he really say they have no more redeeming qualities than a porn site? Uhm, has Berry Tramel never been to a porn site? They're awesome, which means they are way more redeeming than message boards. Maybe he should check one out and lighten the fuck up.

p.s. - That seemed like a good place to end the post. You can finish the rest of Berry's article here.

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