Sunday
Nov222009
Another hurdle cleared
Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 11:49AM
This last week I took my general exam, which is one of the big points in a doctoral degree process. I gave a 45 minute presentation on my research, answered questions over it for another 30, then I was questioned over all of my course work for another 30 minutes. As you can imagine, this was pretty harrowing given they could ask just about anything, and so I spent about 2 months studying my old notes and textbooks in preparation. The last couple weeks proved pretty stressful due to the amount of studying, but the presentation and everything went well, and I passed! It was a great relief to have it all finished. Now the only thing left for me to do is wrap up my research and write my dissertation, which should take most of my time between now and May. But the end is in sight, which is sort of weird considering I've been in school without any long breaks for about 8 years.
I've held off from writing about the Sooner's football season because it's been so depressing to watch - the combination of bad luck and poor play has been frustrating for most Oklahoma fans. While I was fairly certain OU would not compete for the national title this year, I have been surprised to see how quickly we dropped from the national picture. I've been trying to come up with a good term to describe this year's team - with so many injuries and bad luck in games, it's like the opposite of what most call "a team of destiny." In 2000, OU was called a team of destiny because they had almost no injuries, and when the team needed points or a defensive stop, they always got it. This year injuries have been almost weekly, and no one seems willing to step up to be a leader to get the team through the tough moments. While injuries can't really be avoided, having no leaders really troubles me, especially for next year.
I've held off from writing about the Sooner's football season because it's been so depressing to watch - the combination of bad luck and poor play has been frustrating for most Oklahoma fans. While I was fairly certain OU would not compete for the national title this year, I have been surprised to see how quickly we dropped from the national picture. I've been trying to come up with a good term to describe this year's team - with so many injuries and bad luck in games, it's like the opposite of what most call "a team of destiny." In 2000, OU was called a team of destiny because they had almost no injuries, and when the team needed points or a defensive stop, they always got it. This year injuries have been almost weekly, and no one seems willing to step up to be a leader to get the team through the tough moments. While injuries can't really be avoided, having no leaders really troubles me, especially for next year.
Reader Comments (2)
I really thought we had one of the best defenses in all of college football until yesterday against Tech. (I didn't get to see the K State game, so I'm discounting that one.) We looked like we didn't have a clue what was going on! Maybe it was the Pro Combat uniforms?
Congrats, Chris!