Oklahoma QB not a fan of Katy Perry
Three years after the fact, Baker Mayfield thinks he has identified the reason for Oklahoma’s rough second half in 2014.
Oklahoma started the year 4- 0 and was heading into a road matchup against No. 4 TCU, but that was the weekend we learned about pop singer Katy Perry’s crush on then- Sooners QB Trevor Knight during her spot as guest picker on ESPN’s College Gameday.
Perry urged Knight to give her a call, but he never did. The Sooners lost to the Horned Frogs that Saturday and ended up finishing the season 8- 5. It ended with a 40- 6 beatdown at the hands of Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl.
Mayfield thinks Perry jinxed the Sooners.
“I blame Katy Perry,” Mayfield joked Monday.
Mayfield also made it clear he much prefers Taylor Swift to Perry.
“I don’t think there’s any comparison,” he said.
Nice reflexes
Marc Leishman figured it was the least he could do.
Go back to the 18th hole at TPC Boston where Leishman was trying to play a shot from below the green in a ragged lie. The shot came out at a 45- degree angle, and headed right for NBC cameraman Murrill Boney. If it hit him — and it looked as though it couldn’t miss — the ball likely would have caromed into the hazard.
“I’m making 7, at least,” Leishman said.
Keeping his calm and his camera steady, Boney moved his leg to avoid the golf ball, and it rolled into the rough. Leishman finished alone in third. If the ball had hit Boney, Leishman figures at best he would have fallen into a three- way tie for third. That’s a difference of $ 140,000.
So on Saturday night at the BMW Championship, Leishman sent over pizza and beer to the camera crew as a tiny token of his appreciation.
Boney, who quietly goes about his profession, would prefer for his 15 minutes of fame to end.
“It’s like it’s at 14 minutes and 59 seconds,” he said. “And that last second is taking forever.”
Free tacos
The Los Angeles Chargers have left San Diego behind, but San Diego most certainly hasn’t forgotten them. In a display of beautiful pettiness, one San Diego restaurant is giving away free tacos every time the Chargers lose.
Victor Lopez, the owner of El Pollo Grill in San Diego, was a lifelong Chargers fan. Heartbroken when the team left, Lopez put his money where his rage was: Any visitor who comes into El Pollo the day after a Chargers loss and says the magic words — “Spanos Taco” — gets a free taco. (“Spanos” refers to Dean Spanos, the owner who moved the team from a faithful fan base with a decaying stadium to a nonexistent fan base in a soccer stadium.)
At some point, El Pollo is going to have to decide just how far it wants to carry this promotion. The Chargers ( 0- 2) face the Chiefs this week, then draw the Raiders, Broncos and Patriots over the next six weeks before their bye.