The Next Barry Sanders Is…Barry Sanders

by Rob Loeber

If you watch Heritage Hall senior Barry Sanders run the football, you can easily picture him wearing a light blue jersey and a silver helmet just like his father did throughout the nineties with the Detroit Lions.  The younger Sanders is an electrifying talent and even though he may not be Hall of Fame material just yet, he is ready to take the next step in his football career.  Sanders is one of the top recruits in the country and would be welcome at any of the premier division one college programs.  I recently sat down with Sanders and asked him about carrying the weight of lofty expectations, how he’ll make his college choice, and what’s going through his mind as he tears through an opposing defense.  The following is an excerpt from that interview.

Loeber: Barry you’ve been given this amazing talent, but with that talent means expectations are also extremely high.  Can having the name Barry Sanders be a blessing and a burden at the same time?

Sanders: I’ve thought about it, and I think it’s more of a blessing than anything.  It’s a lot of opportunity that comes with it and I’ve just been trying to capitalize on it and do the best I can with it.

Barry Sanders Sr. won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma State and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2004. (courtesy profootballhof.com)

Loeber: Do you remember the first time you saw your dad run the football?

Sanders: I do remember going to a couple games.  I remember the first few times and I remember watching some of his highlights and realizing how great he was.  I’m still amazed at what he was able to do.

Loeber: Football or not, what’s the best piece of advice that he’s given you?

Sanders: Probably just to be the best man you can be.  We’ve talked about a lot of things off the field, but that’s probably one of the biggest things you know, take care of what you have to take care of and be responsible.

Loeber: Does it ever feel like the expectations placed on you are too high?

Sanders: If you ask me, no.  My mom and my grandpa might have something different to say but I would say no because I don’t look at it as expectations.  Like I said, it’s opportunity.  It’s opportunity hopefully to be one of the greats you know, that’s all you can ask for.

Loeber: Do you ever wish for a day or a week of anonymity, or do you kind of embrace the fact that you are the face of this (Heritage Hall) program? Continue reading The Next Barry Sanders Is…Barry Sanders

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Simple Sabbath: Why I Believe

I don’t remember a time when my parents didn’t take us to church of one kind or another. I distinctly recall when I was 11 years old and we started going to a non-denominational church in Newcastle. They were a charismatic community. They were “on fire for the Lord,” people raised their hands, spoke in tongues, and shouted a lot of “Yes, Jesus!” exclamations throughout the congregation. I thought it was a little weird at first. It was totally unlike anything I had ever experienced before. That soon became our church home and we were there nearly every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. I even started volunteering in the children’s church because I loved working with kids.

Growing up in the Christian faith, I believed in God, quite frankly, because I always had. That’s the way I was raised. I’m thankful that my parents raised me in church. I was baptized, was involved with the youth group and never questioned anything I had learned. As I got older and started working, I went to church a lot less but I never stopped believing in God. I was raised in the Bible Belt, after all. I didn’t know anyone that didn’t believe in the same God I did. Continue reading Simple Sabbath: Why I Believe

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Ch-ch-ch-aan-GES! What’s Up, What’s New, What’s Soon

Lot’s of things are happening at the RDC and occasionally we put out News posts to let you know about them. HOWEVER, “The RDC News” is basically our first announcement…  Next week we’re going to give you the ability to subscribe to a bi-weekly, one-page newsletter.  This will keep you up to date with the goings-on of our contributors, what new features we might be sharing and stories or essays we plan on publishing.  This way, if you WANT to know, we’ll tell you.  If you don’t, we won’t!  We’ll have a “subscribe to the RDC Newsletter” feature on our front page so you can do it, pass it along, or let it fly right by.

Next, Rob Loeber our sports editor is putting together a joint venture with one of his friends to cover Oklahoma high school sports.  Right now he’s doing an interview with Barry Sanders, Jr. so his sports post won’t be up ’till later this weekend or on Monday.  We’re excited about the possibility of not only cross-promoting each other’s work, but also by having even more ways to share the stories of Oklahoma right here at the RDC.

Contributor news ~ Julie’s taking a break for a bit, and we’ll see her again when she’s got the new school year all settled in. Her school district is lucky to have her; she does such cool things with the students!

What we’re working on right now: Continue reading Ch-ch-ch-aan-GES! What’s Up, What’s New, What’s Soon

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On the Horizon: Hot Rods

Don’t you just hate taking your car to be repaired. I know I do. I always worry about how much it’s going to cost and how long it will take. I don’t know about you, but I can’t be without a car for very long. There is just too much to do and most of it requires driving. I also worry about whether or not the person working on my car really knows what they are doing. If you are a mechanic, sorry, but it is something I think about.

In this week’s video blog, I visit an Oklahoma school that makes me think that at least the students there, probably do know what they are doing and as you’ll see…can get it done quite quickly.

~Alisa Hines

 

On the Horizon: Hot Rods from Alisa Hines on Vimeo.

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Little Green Lies: Fibbing for Budget’s Sake

**Editor’s Note: I chose this for another “Throwback Thursday” post ~ great reads from last year I’m not ready to archieve w/o one more pass. Enjoy!

I’m an honest person. In fact, I hate lying and am usually terrible at it. I’m the kind of person you should never ask “if your butt looks fat” in those jeans. While I wouldn’t be heartless about it, I’d probably say that we “can find a more flattering style.” So knowing this about myself, I was shocked and appalled by my recent behavior on a shopping trip to a local specialty store.

My friend Cristy at work has the coolest little loose leaf tea pot. I fell in love with it as she kindly made me a cup of tea one afternoon when I was feeling under the weather. So, after some internal deliberation about spending money for something that I wanted but did not necessarily need, I knew that I simply had to have one, too.

Before I went shopping, I estimated that I would probably spend about $30 on a tea pot and a couple of ounces of tea. I knew from the moment the sales clerk opened his mouth that my carefully planned budget had met its match. This guy knew more about tea and tea accessories than Bob Barry knows about Sooner football.  He was simultaneously incredibly helpful and terrifying.

I was firm on only spending a set amount in this store and he was the czar of cross selling. I picked out the tea pot and then moved on to tea. I already knew which type I wanted so I asked for two ounces. He reminded me that you ‘get a better price break if you buy four.’ I was still feeling strong at this point and stuck to my guns. “No, I’ll just start with two ounces, thank you,” I said.

Then, he threw the first curveball my way. “You’ll need a tin to store it in. Otherwise it will rot. Would you like the small one or large one?” My mind started racing. Rotten tea? Well, I can’t have that! I had no choice but to buy the tin, right? So, I weakly said, “I’ll take the small one.” Score one for the tea king. Continue reading Little Green Lies: Fibbing for Budget’s Sake

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Showcasing Red Dirt culture ~ authored and managed by contributors with connections to the great state of Oklahoma.