Showdown: Tonight at 8 in Kansas City's Sprint Center, the OU women's basketball team takes on Kentucky for a "Final Four" birth in the NCAA tournament. OU got to this point with a tough, convincing weekend win over Notre Dame in overtime, a win sparked by players who never gave up and who stepped up when the time came.

The Gadfly On Sherri Coale's Wall

By Mike McCarville

Unlike the OU men, who had the kind of year they'd like to forget, the women have struggled through the departure of the Paris girls and season-ending injury to sharpshooter Whitney Hand, and gotten better with each game. Tonight's game likely will be a thriller; the victory over Notre Dame surely was. Whatever the outcome, Coach Sherri Coale (photograph courtesy The Oklahoman)and the Lady Sooners have had a stellar year, the likes of which we couldn't imagine when Coale took over the down-and-out OU program two decades ago. Boomer Sooner!

Pathetic: Nine (and more) high school students so bullied a 15-year-old girl that she killed herself and now we learn the school's administrators knew about the prolonged bullying and did nothing about it. That's pathetic; how can any school official justify such inaction when mental and physical bullying is directed at another student?

One More Time: Mary Fallin got a pretty good media ride out of her working tour announcement yesterday.

Rule That Out: We can eliminate one possible post for Governor Brad Henry when he leaves office in January. OU has filled the dean of the Law School post, one of the possible positions for which the rumor mill had Henry in contention.

Switzer For Miller: Barry Switzer has endorsed Rep. Ken Miller for state treasurer. Switzer hosts a fundraiser for the Republican tonight. Owen Laughlin, former state senator, also seeks the GOP nomination for the office.

Take That, Terrill: The Oklahoman continues its editorial needling of Rep. Randy Terrill. Today, the paper zings him again for his connection to the Oklahoma Public Employees Association. Terrill says it is "yellow journalism." May be...but the ink The Oklahoman buys by the trainload is black.

Decisions, Decisions: Here at camp (aka TMRO), we experience a flood of daily emails from legislators, other elected officials and candidates. Last week, we quit counting at 200. Such a flood of information requires decisions; what to use, what not to use. We tend to ignore those filled with gratuitous insults, or those making embellished claims about issues or polls or whatever. We use those that provide insight to our readers, or note the progress of legislation or issues, or advance our knowledge of an issue or a campaign or an office-holder or a candidate.

Please...don't take online polls too seriously. We don't. While they often do reflect general sentiment about an issue or a candidate, they are far from scientific and often, simply demonstrate how adept the candidates are at motivating their supporters (through Twitter and Facebook) to jump onto our site, for example, and vote for them. What they do demonstrate, often, is how fast candidates can get their "troops" inspired enough to vote for them, and how many troops the candidates have. That part of the polls is instructive and could be the biggest insight they provide. As I told a radio audience recently, "The only thing worse than a straw poll is an online poll" for trying to measure overall public support for candidates.

Going Dark: Forgive the use of an old radio phrase to describe what's happening to some Oklahoma blogs and websites. Seems a number have "gone dark" in recent months, lacking posts for weeks on end, or disappearing completely. Others trudge on, posting a story or two a week. When I first contemplated taking the printed The McCarville Report online four years ago, I performed my due diligence and researched the growing blogosphere. Can't recall where I read it, but the substance of it sticks in my mind: Today's Internet prowler wants instant information...timely and often. Those who believe their magic words will hold audience interest for a whole day or a week are misguided. They will fall by the wayside from disinterest. If I hit your blog (or site) twice a day and you've got the same piece sitting there both times, I'll probably not make you a regular stop on my Internet tour. (Yes, I know there are exceptions.)

Speaking Of Blogs: Friends Ron Black and Mark Shannon both report record months for hits on their sites. Ditto here. (Both of them, by the way, post often.)

Share |