Latest / The Dry Line Podcast / OU Football’s All-Name First Team, Plus the Next Chapter in the Gold Dome Saga...

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OU Football’s All-Name First Team, Plus the Next Chapter in the Gold Dome Saga... · The Dry Line Podcast

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to The Dry Line Podcast.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host,
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Ryan Fightmaster,
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Managing Editor of The Dry Line,
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: and your weekly leader on this winding exploration of Oklahoma culture,
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: sacred sports, mercurial weather, nefarious politics, and damn fine people.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: I've got to say it,
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: we've arrived,
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: folks, at the reason for living in Oklahoma, at the reason for living at all.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's football time in Oklahoma.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: That felt pretty righteous, not gonna lie.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: In today's episode,
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: we're discussing,
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: given all that can reasonably be discussed now that our next governor has all
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: but been decided, football.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: This week,
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: and I mean that literally,
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: for the past week, All I have been working on is this project.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I released my rankings today, actually yesterday, of OU football's best 100 names since 2000.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: It was fun and exhausting for my whole family.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: I imagine Keddie,
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: my wife,
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: is beyond tired of me walking around the house and saying,
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: I need to get you, I need to get you, I need to get you.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And beyond tired of me explaining how masterfully ironic the choice of general was
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: before the last name Booty.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm not done with these names yet because I've created for this podcast
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: an all-name team with the first name of OU football players on offense and defense
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: by how good their football name is, broken down by position.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Afterward in the Oklahoma Rundown,
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be reviewing the latest in the goings-on on the Prairie,
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: including a plot twist in the future of the Gold Dome,
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: the saga of That just won't be demolished.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and please,
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: if you're enjoying what we're doing here at The Dry Line,
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: drop us a review and subscribe wherever you're listening.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: It helps immeasurably.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, measurably.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: It helps immeasurably.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it's the best way to keep this project growing.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, thanks y'all.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do this.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like I mentioned up top,
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you just can't wait for football season and need something to burn the minutes,
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: approximately 20 minutes is what Substack predicts it will take you
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: to read my entire article this week.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote blurbs about every single one of the 100 best surnames in OU football since 2000.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's linked in the show notes.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I thought it best to start today.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: This breakdown of our first team, names, and OU history.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thought about us to start on defense, because that's usually how Gabe and Teddy go about things.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: I've got us arranged in a classic 4-3 structure for those psychos keeping track at home.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going defensive line first.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Two DNs,
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: two edge players,
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: or yeah, two DNs slash edge players, and then two interior defensive linemen.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, first...
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Starting a defensive end, an edge, I've got CJ Aiyu.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Man, for those of y'all that saw CJ Aiyu in person on the field or on television,
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: you were treated to quite the sight.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: The number 99 with Aiyu.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Above the numbers.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And he was a specimen.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how tall C.J.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: was.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: I felt like he was at least 6'4", but I felt like he was 6'8".
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Great football player, too.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: But C.J.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Aiyu is in the all-Jersey, all-name team Hall of Fame.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know why that guy's jersey has not been retired yet inside of Owen Field.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: And next is C.J.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Aiyu.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: I've got Jontae Bumpus.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Again,
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: these rankings are not based on merit or based on success on the field or honors
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: or statistics, really.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Also, no nicknames were included in these rankings.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: This was purely just on first name,
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: last name, whatever was listed in the official OU roster between 2000 and 2026.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's how we got here, and that's how Jonte Bumpus got on this list.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: So this is the question I have for you.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you knew you were about to go head up with a guy named Jonte Bumpus,
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: would you be intimidated?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Likely not.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: If your teammate was named Jonte Bumpus, would you find it awesome and hilarious?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Every team needs a Jonte Bumpus for morale.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so those are our two D&Edge guys.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Honorable mentions at D&Edge.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: I got Eric Stryker.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome name.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let me say this.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome last name.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: The first name leaves a little bit to be desired.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: My cousin,
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: he texted me after I put this list out and he was like,
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: if they would have named him like Major Striker, that's like top five for sure.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: But he ended up with Eric Striker.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Still a great name.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Good name.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Not a great name.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Also got Nick Benito.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Got Vershawn Sublette also.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: How cool is that name?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Vershawn Sublette.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: The only guy who gets to actually sublet his apartment.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, interior defensive lineman.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: I got two names for you.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Devontae Lampkin.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Devontae passed away a few years ago in an unfortunate robbery.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: But I got to say, man, he was uber talented.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: And his name is just everything that I want in a defensive lineman's name.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's got this mystery and intrigue.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's not super sexy.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, but it's just, like, tough, man.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: I just, like,
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: I see this,
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: like, mountain of a person walking into a room and just crowding out the light.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I see when I see Devontae Lampkin.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And next to Devontae Lampkin,
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: I have Dusty Dvorak,
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: a destructive and menacing name capable of just shredding interior defensive linemen
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: into shrapnel.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome interior defensive line.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: But I got to say this, on the whole, this position group just didn't have great names.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Easily the smallest contributor of names to the best of 100 list in total.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: But that cannot be said for our next group, the linebackers.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: This is all I have to say about linebackers and their names.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Linebackers' parents are psychos, alright?
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because only psycho parents give their kids psycho names knowing that they're going
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: to play the most psycho position on the football field.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: 18 of the 100 were linebacker names.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: 6 of the top 12 names in my list were linebacker names.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: There weren't even 6 defensive linemen in the list.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: There were 3 offensive linemen in the list.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: No, 4 offensive linemen in the list.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of makes me believe in destiny and that there's like a deft hand at work here.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Parents, all I can say, name your kids into the position group that you want them to play.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And if you give them a badass name, be careful.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: They might end up playing linebacker.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Here are my three linebackers for you.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Number one,
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Rocky Calmas,
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: the linebacker on the mount, a name for And a destination that people pilgrimage to.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Rocky was probably the first player that I loved in my soul as a kid.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: His pick six against Texas in 2000, in the rain with the cast on his arm.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: It was like the stuff of legends.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Not to mention,
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: whenever he's returning that pick six,
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: you can see all the Jinx tailback highlight tape.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Just a complete, perfect football player, national title winner, Buckus winner.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: But even if you took all that stuff away,
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Rocky Calamus is still just this iconic name that you just see it off in
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: the distance.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, Danny Stutzman.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes a name comes to mean something that it doesn't necessarily mean on paper.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like Danny Stutzman.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean like cool, suave, badass, like stud linebacker.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: But when you say Danny Stutzman, that's the imagery you see.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: In the article,
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: I linked that photo of him with the gold hat,
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: smoking the cigar, right after they beat OU Texas.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Just amazing, amazing player, amazing name.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: The third linebacker in our fourth restructure here, the name goes to Capri Doucette.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: How fucking cool is that name?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: I might name my next car Capri Doucette or my next dog.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Or if I can get a permission to rename my cat Capri Doucette.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Or instead of the Continental Coliseum,
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: how about we petition Harold Hamm to rename our arena Capri Doucette.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's just an unbelievably suave-ass name.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Alright,
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: honorable mentions in the linebacker category because there were literally
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: so many good names.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Brian Asamoah, Devontae Bond.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Ron Bros Jones, Fred Fleeks.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: I could go on and on, but I will just say this.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: We should all aim to live our lives with the level of intention that the parents
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: of linebackers put into naming their children.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: That is all I gotta say.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Defensive back.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not splitting this into corners and safeties because a lot
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: of these guys played both or ended up playing nickel.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: So just four best names across the secondary.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And like linebacker, defensive back was way overrepresented in the list of 100.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: What that means, we're going to get to in a little bit.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: All right, number one, Chijoki Anyanigicu.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Man, man.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Coolest name and most fitting name to ever be named for any single position.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Also, along with CJ Ayou, an all-time jersey number and name combination.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: CJ wore 22.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: In the article, I've got him as the front player in the podcast.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Promoting image for the article, and he just looks just like a killer, man.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's probably the best jersey name combination ever in the history of OU football.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like, there's just something about the way his name looks over the top of 22 and
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: the way he wore it.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Perfection.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Just total perfection.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: I also like to imagine that as Chijoki was covering wide receivers
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: in their hip pocket,
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: he was just trailing them all the way down the field,
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: just whispering in their ear,
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: I need to get you, I need to get you, I need to get you.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Again, my wife hates me for how much I've said that in the last week.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, second defensive back out of our shell coverage here.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Laramie Hammer.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Names like that do not play both ways.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: From birth, they play defense, and they play defense only.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Laramie Hammer.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's...
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: God, it's such a fun name.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, third defensive back on the list.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Ante Jones.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's a first name.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Ante, I think, is a taunt.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a flash of excess.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: But then Jones comes in and just cleanly smooths this name into one hell of a safety thing.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: That made big time plays in big time games.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like rewatching the highlights throughout this process.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: I've watched like way too many highlights on YouTube,
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: which did help get all of the weather related YouTube videos from my first podcast
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: that I did out of my algorithm.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: So now I've just got OU football history in my algorithm on YouTube.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: I rewatched the highlights from the 2001 Orange Bowl, which was the 2000 National Championship.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: And Ante Jones was just such a playmaker.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Special, special player.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Also, crazy story.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: He and his family almost died in a hurricane in Florida whenever he was a kid.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: And somehow through that process,
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: he ended up knowing a coach that Coach Don Schnellenberger's staff at OU,
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: and that coach ended up putting him in touch with Stoops,
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: or John Blake,
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: I don't remember,
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: but crazy story how he got to OU,
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: and then he ended up winning a national title back home in Florida.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: All right, fourth defensive back on the list, Thaddeus LeGrone.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to say that for you one more time so you know that a name like this exists
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: in the world.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Thaddeus Le Grone, a puff on a quality Cuban cigar.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: That is what that name is right there.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, just, again, loaded position group.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Honorable mentions.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Dominique Franks, again, don't ever throw to a guy.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Throw toward a guy with the name Dominique Franks.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, Jacoby Johnson, sure, go with that guy.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Take your shots.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: But you got nobody to blame but yourself if you're throwing out
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: a dude that's name is Dominique Franks.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Makai Quick, Bennett Okacha, okay.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: For real.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: A corner named Bennett Okacha, Derek Strait, Buki Radley-Hiles, Brandon Everidge.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, hold on.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: I've got to talk a second about Everidge.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: That guy played like he was delivering verdicts.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot remember a player that sent gasps through the crowd out of Winfield
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: as often as Everidge did.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: When fans complained that defense
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: under Lincoln Riley didn't look like how it was supposed to,
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: they were saying that they missed Brandon Everidge.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: I missed Brandon Everidge.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: He passed away in a drowning accident.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how many years ago that was, but just really sad and an epic player.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: If he hadn't succeeded Roy Williams, I think we'd probably talk about Everidge differently too.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: He was an All-American.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think he was maybe one of the best defensive players in OU football history.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: He just made so many plays.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: His highlight tape, which I linked inside the article, is just chock full of devastating hits.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And not just devastating hits, but hits on third down that were down-stopping hits.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: Amazing player.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: And he was that close to being a national championship in 2004.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: The one that got away.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Man, the one that got away.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Rest in peace, Brandon.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Set the standard.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, on to the offense.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go with 21 personnel, laying that out again for the psychos.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Two backs, one tight end, two wide receivers.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: For the O-line, I'm giving you the top five.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not breaking that out by position because,
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: again, a lot of these guys played multiple positions.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Also, this group, as predicted.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Went similarly to the defensive line.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Not a lot of great names in the trenches.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'll let you decide what all that means in life.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: First O-lineman name, Akeem Millington.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know how in every sports movie there's a jock that's kind of dumb
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: but immensely talented and he needs to befriend
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: a nerdier teammate that's like this whiz in math and science just to stay eligible
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: so he can stay on the team?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: In every sports movie, that nerdy teammate should have been called Akeem Millington.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Amazing name.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: I hope Akeem's doing well.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, second lineman, Creed Humphrey.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: I can't prove that Creed was named after the band Creed,
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: but the band Creed's reputation went through a really tough few years.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of found themselves as the butt of the 2000s joke.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: But lately I think people started to wisen up a little bit,
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: understanding now that without Creed we probably would have fell into
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: the Y2K apocalypse and probably would have ended things.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: But you know who didn't stop believing in Creed?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: The Humphrey Family.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect name for a center.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: Third player on the list, Phil Lodeholt.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Sticking the name Phil in front of a name like Lodeholt is one of
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: the funniest things I've ever seen done.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: Especially just whenever you consider how vast this man became.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Phil Lodeholt.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome, awesome lineman name.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, fourth name, Ashton Julius, a name for sunrises and smiles.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: I love this name so much.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, last offensive lineman name,
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Eddie Pierre-Louis,
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: a 2026 addition to the list,
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: and a name that's a nice little fusion of American and French culture.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: I like to think of it as a hot dog wrapped in a beignet.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, tight ends.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of good options here.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: But only one winner.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Rocky Beers.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: There was only one thing that really got pushed back in my rankings with two things.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: People were pissed I didn't put Samajé P. Ryan in the rankings.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I will admit it, that was a mistake.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: There's definitely somebody I could pull out and put Samajé in.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: I just missed that.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: But people also said that Rocky Beers should have been ranked higher than 29.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: And here's where I come down on that.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: The surname Beers...
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: is a top surname.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's gotta be like worldwide in the top 25 best surnames you can possibly have in your life.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you have the last name Beers,
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: you are going to have more fun in your life than
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: the average person that's been nicknamed, or that's been named Johnson, all right?
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: With that in mind, okay, as the saying goes, with a great surname comes a great responsibility.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the Beers family did a really good job with Rocky.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: Rocky Beers, it works.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Rocky is also another fun-loving name.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got fun-loving first name, fun-loving last name.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I think there was some more meat on the bone here.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: I say that because I know what it looks like when you have a great first name
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: in front of the last name Beers.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: And what that looks like is the former Tulsa Union receiver from 2005.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if anybody out there remembers this name, please...
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not thinking I'm like the only nostalgic fool out here.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah,
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: 2005 Tulsa Union wide receiver of like 2005 backyard brawl lore in
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: that epic jinx game.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Kagan Beers.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Kagan Beers is the standard when it comes to Beers names.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: And Rocky is not close to Kagan Beers.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why he was number 29 in the rankings.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Honorable mention.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Tight end.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: Bowersharp.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you're wondering why Bower Sharp made this list, well,
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: after his career at OU, again,
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: I did not take into account what happened on the field whenever somebody was at OU.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: What I did take into account was how badass a name is, and Bower Sharp is an awesome name.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's also a quarterback name.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a tight end name.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: A name like Bower Sharp does not need to put his hand in the ground.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason why that's a quarterback name is because Bauer Sharp used
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: to play quarterback in high school.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: Not that you could tell, though.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like we've raked Bauer so hard over the Colts for that game against LSU.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's probably why I ended up playing at LSU.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: But that interception he threw was pretty infamous.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, wide receivers.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Two wide receivers again.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: We've got 21 personnel, one on each side, maybe bunched.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: First wide receiver, Kenny Stills.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you name your child Kenny Stills,
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: there is no chance that kid doesn't end up as the coolest kid in school.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Kenny Stills is such a cool name.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: And the fact that he was a very fast, very sudden wide receiver makes this name even cooler.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Second wide receiver, Antoine Savage.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: As a 10-year-old,
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: In the year 2000,
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: I was under the impression that Antoine Savage was the best wide receiver in
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: the country.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Antoine Savage was not the best wide receiver in the country, by the way.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: Actually,
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: I can remember asking my dad, like,
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: hey dad, is Antoine Savage going to be like an All-American or something like that?
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: And he was like, no, Ryan, he's a good player, but he's not an All-American.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't understand that then.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason why was because his name is Antoine Savage.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: Amazing name.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: Honorable mentions in the receiver group.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Tons of good receiver names.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Charleston Rambo, Sterling Shepard, Isaiah Satania,
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Trajan Bridges, CeeDee Lamb.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Loaded position group, kind of like defensive back.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: But as the saying goes, both positions have style, but only one can catch.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, running backs.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: There weren't a lot of names, surprisingly, in this group, but the top names were big time.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of sounded like Jim Traver there when I said that.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not really sure how I feel about that.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's a little scary.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, number one.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Two running backs, by the way.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: 21 personnel.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Trey Sermon.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: My dad or uncle really can't remember what I always say preach when he'd get
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: the ball in the fourth quarter.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I always thought that was really cool.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: I always thought Sermon never got the ball enough too.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I ask you this, can we just get a running backs coach?
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm hopeful for Coach McCullough,
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: by the way, who gives the ball to the most talented player on the field.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Can we please just simplify it?
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Why do we have to see our best running backs go play at other schools
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: after they don't get carries at Oklahoma and go off?
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Don't want to see that anymore.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Second running back, Moses Madu.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: You think you're going to tackle a guy named Moses Madu?
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Guy literally parts water, all right?
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Great, great name.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Great player, too.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: Underrated player.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Had a great pro career.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: Stuck around for a bit.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'll give you two fullback names just as historical relics and just for fun.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Ripkowski and Buck Buchanan.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot make this up.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: Straight out of fullback central casting for names.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Ripkowski and Buck Buchanan.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, quarterback.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's amazing how closely the names follow the position group.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a sorting hat.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like done by parents?
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, God?
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to say.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: But quarterback is no exception.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the quarterback of the all-name team is General Booty.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: I really thought about General's dad a lot.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: During this analysis of names.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because I imagined he was probably chastised for most of his life because of
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: the ridiculousness of his last name.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: The temptation that he must have felt after all that trauma too would have been
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: to play it safe, you know?
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Diminish the attention by taking the attention off the booty.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: But no.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: He embraced it by dignifying the booty with a dash of formality?
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: And some healthy irony.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: And you give your child a name capable of commanding ass.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: Touché, sir.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: Touché.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Honorable mention at the quarterback position.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: Spencer Rattler, Bo Bentley, Jet Newey, and Baker, of course.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and lest we forget the kickers, punters, and long snappers.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: Special teams.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, before I give you the one name of a special teams player, there's a lesson here.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't want your kid to end up a punter or a kicker, give them a better name.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you do want them to end up a punter or a kicker and end up having
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: a 15-year career in the NFL,
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: name them Tress Way,
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: the only name in the rankings at number 50 and easily the silkiest name in the list.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Tress Way, still kicking in the NFL, punting in the NFL.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: That is our all-name team.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you,
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: but I think that OU should start allocating funds toward procuring
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: the best-named player in every recruiting class.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's obviously worked on the field because most
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: of these names ended up being players, like legit contributors on the field.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: And truly,
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was surprised,
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: like after screening 1,500 names this week,
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: how many of the great names ended up being big-time players.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: It was most of the list.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: There were some non-contributors on the list, but not that many.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Nine of the 100, almost 10%, were All-Americans.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: Names matter, folks.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: Names matter.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay,
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: just one piece of news I'd like to touch on before we get out of here in a segment
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: that I'm starting up this week called the Oklahoma Roundup.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: The Gold Dome.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma City's historical eyesore?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: Sold.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: But not to who the city thought it was going to sell to.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, quick history recap on the Gold Dome.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: It opened, okay, also off of Classen and 23rd Street.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you have not spotted it, it's huge and a monstrosity.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Opened as a bank in 1958, Citizens State Bank.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's exchanged hands through many other banks,
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: but ultimately by the 90s,
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: it wasn't really serving as anything anymore,
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: but like a golden beacon of, I don't know.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what to call it, really.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be honest.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: I have no attachment to the gold dome.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: None of my emotions are wrapped up in the Gold Dome.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently, though, it is a historic landmark, like a Route 66 landmark or something.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: But it's been empty for like a decade now.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: But there's been hope on the horizon.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because in the last couple of years,
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: and in 2025,
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: a Tolson investor and music venue,
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: a connoisseur, Mike Brown, expressed interest in restoring the Gold Dome.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: And he had told the city of OKC in 2025 that he planned to dedicate $9 million
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: to restore this thing.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: And Oklahoma City kicked in some historical funding that they had in the coffers.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: The Gold Dome had some life, maybe even a vision.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: His plan was to turn it into a 2,500-seat music venue.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: I was down for this.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds fun.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: We need more music venues in the city still.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: And the city approved his plans.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: All that was left was this week,
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: For Mike to show up to the Sheriff's Auction for the Gold Dome.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently everyone expected him to show up and buy the Gold Dome after years
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: of drawing up plans and selling everyone on turning it into this music venue.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: But guess who didn't show up at the auction?
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: Mike Brown.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently the city was shocked.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: Caleb Hill,
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: an Oklahoma City investor,
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: Who is one of the people responsible for the complete reconstruction
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: of Klassen Circle,
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: you know, where the old high-low used to be on Klassen and Northwest Expressway.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: Caleb Hill won the bid with a $1.1 million offer.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: It was appraised for $900,000,
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: so I guess it went above appraisal,
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: but it's still like shocking to me that the Gold Dome,
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: maybe the most historical building we have in all of Oklahoma City,
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: or at least it's branded as the most historical building that we have in all
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: of Oklahoma City, only went For $1.1 million.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: And nobody really knows what's going to happen next.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: New plans will have to be submitted to the city because, again, it's a historical building.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Hill has not said what he's going to do with it.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: He's only said that he was the guy that won the bid.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: This will unfold over years.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: And will it all be worth it?
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Has all of this been worth it for this building?
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: For the Gold Dome?
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think it's been worth it.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: But the circus around the Gold Dome has definitely been worth it.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I, for one, will be looking forward to this next chapter of a very long and strange saga.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed today's show, give us a follow on social media at drylineokc.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: Also, our website, it has changed.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: The website is now drylineokc.com.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's where you can find all of our podcasts,
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: all of our articles, all of our updates, social media, everything, it's there.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: So go ahead and subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: so you don't miss future episodes and interviews.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like I mentioned last week, got a good one lined up.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: Probably not going to be for another two weeks.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: That interview, we're going to have another show next week, but got some things in the pipeline.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: Also, those reviews you've been dropping into Apple Podcasts
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: and Spotify are much appreciated and they've been really helpful.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, everybody, for listening.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Until next week, you'll know where to find us.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: The Powerhouse.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, God.