Yearly Archives: 2010

Tickets on sale today for Drillers vs. Rockies

As the temperatures continue to drop outside, baseball fans have a lot to look forward to in just a few short months. The Tulsa Drillers will open their 2011 season against the Corpus Christi Hooks on April 7 atalt ONEOK Field. In all, Tulsa will play a 140-game season, with 70 of those contests at home plus a special exhibition game in late March.

The Drillers will play host to their Major League Baseball parent club, the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday, March 30 at 6:05 p.m. Tickets for the game are set to go on sale today. The game will be the Rockies’ last tune-up for the regular season. This will be the first appearance in Tulsa for the Rockies since 2003.

Tickets range from $10 for outfield lawn seats to $22 for home plate premium sections. They will go on sale to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis beginning at 10 a.m. In addition to the exhibition game, individual tickets for the first six regular season games will go on sale at the same time.

Tickets may be purchased in person at the ONEOK Field ticket office located at 201 North Elgin Avenue, online at tulsadrillers.com or by calling (918) 744-5901.

While season tickets are already on sale, individual tickets for all remaining home games will go on sale in early 2011.

Tulsa closes out regular season with 56-50 win

The University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane closed the book on the regular season last Friday, pulling off their sixth straight win in a 56-50 shoot-out with Southern Miss. Junior quarterback G.J. Kinnealt completed 23-of-37 pass attempts while gaining 406 yards and four touchdowns. He added 48 rushing yards and two rushing scores, including the game-winner with just over three minutes remaining. In total, Kinne accounted for 36 of Tulsa’s points on the day, nabbing him his second Conference USA Player of the Week honors this season.

Damaris Johnson led Tulsa’s ground attack with 78 yards, including a touchdown run of 46-yards in the first quarter. As has been usual for TU’s potent offense this season, four receivers reached the end zone as Kinne spread the field connecting with 11 receivers throughout the game. Willie Carter pulled in two scores through the air and one on the ground while Jameel Owens and Ricky Johnson added one receiving touchdown each.

Tulsa jumped out to an early lead in the contest, scoring on Kinne’s 40-yard pass to Ricky Johnson just 1:43 into the game. Southern Miss answered quickly on Francisco Llanos‘ 87-yard kickoff return to tie the game. Tulsa’s offense reached pay-dirt twice more in the opening quarter, taking a 21-10 lead into the second. 

The Hurricane’s only score in the second quarter increased it’s lead to 18 when Kinne found Owens from 27-yards out. Southern Miss used three unanswered scores throughout the remainder of the quarter to pull within four points at half-time.

The shootout continued in the second half, as the Golden Eagles grabbed the lead at the 9:16 mark of the third quarter on a 28-yard touchdown run by Desmond Johnson. Tulsa answered with healthy dose of Carter.

With 7:10 remaining in the third, Kinne found Carter behind a Southern Miss defender on the right sideline. Carter hauled in the pass and went the distance for a 67-yard score. After Dany Hrapmann‘s second field goal of the night, Kinne’s perfectly placed pass found Carter over the middle for a 12-yard touchdown putting the Hurricane up 42-34 with 14:56 left in the fourth quarter.

Southern Miss again answered the challenge, pulling within one point on Johnson’s one-yard run. Not to be outdone, Carter took a pitch from Kinne and galloped 41-yards around the left side for his third touchdown of the game. Keeping the drama alive, Southern Miss answered just 53-seconds later when Quentin Pierce took an Austin Davis pass 67-yards to score. A two-point conversion attempt failed and Tulsa was able to seal the deal with Kinne’s final rushing score some four minutes later.

Despite the win, Tulsa saw it’s hopes for a bid in the C-USA championship fade away, as SMU won an overtime thriller against East Carolina 45-38.

"I really didn’t know until someone told me in the first quarter," Kinne said when asked if he knew of SMU’s win before the game started. "We couldn’t control that. We just came out and wanted to get a win for the seniors."

At 9-3 overall, Tulsa now awaits the results of the C-USA championship game between SMU and UCF to get a clearer picture on which bowl game they may be invited to play in. C-USA, with six bowl-eligible teams, has guaranteed bowl positions in six games. The conference winner will play against a team from the SEC conference at the Liberty Bowl on December 31. 

Other bowls include the Beef O Brady’s Bowl in St. Petersburg, Florida on December 21, the Armed Forces Bowl in Dallas on December 30, the Military Bowl on December 29 in Washington, D.C., the New Orleans Bowl on December 18, and the Hawai’i Bowl on December 24.

Early speculation places Tulsa in either the Armed Forces Bowl, which will be played at SMU’s Ford Stadium or at the Hawai’i Bowl to be played in Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium. 

 

 

 

 

Fallin Will Retain Gary Ridley

Staff Report

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Governor-elect Mary Fallin announced today that Secretary of Transportation Gary Ridley will retain his current role in the Fallin Administration. Ridley will also continue to serve as the director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation as well as the director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.

“Gary has been serving Oklahoma’s transportation needs for over four decades,” said Fallin. “I’ve worked with him as a state representative, as lieutenant governor and as a United States Congresswoman on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and I can attest to Gary’s unparalleled expertise and dedication. I’m glad to have him on my team.”

Ridley has served as secretary of transportation since his 2009 appointment by Brad Henry. He also has held the positions of Director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation since August 2001 and Director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority since October 2009.
 
Ridley began his work with ODOT in 1965, when he joined the department as an equipment operator. Ridley continued his work for ODOT, serving in a variety of positions including division engineer, until leaving the department in 1997 to become the executive director of the Oklahoma Asphalt Paving Association. He returned to ODOT in January 2001 to serve as assistant director for operations before becoming ODOT director in August.  

During his tenure, the number of bad bridges has been reduced and safety features, such as life-saving cable barriers, have become commonplace on Oklahoma’s highways. Ridley also improved the process of preparing the department’s eight-year Construction Work Plan. With funding increases for transportation, he was able to firm-up commitments made in the fiscally constrained plan, particularly those during the first three years.

Ridley also created ODOT’s four-year Asset Preservation Plan aimed at maximizing the life of Oklahoma’s infrastructure. At the national level, he chaired the committee that celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the interstate highway system, and he has been asked to testify to Congress on several occasions about the challenges faced by state transportation officials. 

State Budgets Need a Full-Body Scan

Brent Regan

Editorial:  With budget shortfalls an estimated $140 billion collectively, many U.S. states are facing Greece-like crises. While many states are considering cuts, tax increases or both, a detailed pat down into state and local employee pay and benefits should be their top priority.
•   Half of all state and local government money was spent on wages and benefits in 2008 to the tune of $1.1 trillion, according to Sunshine Review.
•   States have fallen $1 trillion short on what they are required to pay retired workers, according to the Pew Center on the States. Some estimates are even higher.

American taxpayers who are struggling to make ends meet are being forced to fund bloated systems rampant with abuse.
•   According to the Chicago Tribune, “In Glencoe [Illinois], a free Jeep, bonuses and other perks to an outgoing parks director cost local taxpayers an extra $350,000. Joliet [IL] officials literally wrote pension spiking into the employee handbook, costing taxpayers there nearly $500,000 extra on the outgoing city manager alone.”
•   A former city manager in California receives an annual $500,000 retirement check.
•   “Public safety workers in CalPERS can retire at age 50 after 30 years of work with benefits equal to 90 percent of their final salary,” according to the Cato Institute.
 
Many state employees have figured out how to game the system.
•   After earning less than $10,000 a year for 24 years a New Jersey public employee spent one year as a prosecutor with a salary of $141,000, raising his yearly pension from $3,600 to $70,000.
•   An employee of the Department of Corrections in Massachusetts spent almost 30 years as an administrative assistant before becoming a prison guard. After working only one year as a corrections officer, her retirement will be that of a career prison guard.

Others have figured out that they can retire early, collect their generous pensions and then simply be rehired by the state, collecting both a pension and a paycheck, which is legal in several states.
•   Judicial Watch uncovered a Phoenix Police Chief who was collecting a pension after he retired, while receiving a full salary for the identical job under a different title.
•   According to Ohio News Organization (OHNO) 27 percent of Ohio’s school superintendents are rehired retirees, who began collecting their pensions in their early 50s while still receiving regular paychecks.
•   According to the Plain Dealer, “More than 150 of the state’s [Ohio’s] 613 superintendents collect paychecks and pensions at the same time. Over the past decade, a growing number of school chiefs have cut deals to retire, collect public pensions and return to work, often in the same jobs. In a single weekend, these superintendents increase their earnings by as much as 80 percent.”

While many states are attempting to address pension abuse, American taxpayers are still on the hook funding pensions of which they could only dream.  It is no wonder two-thirds of the respondents of a recent Pew Center for the States poll said they “either never trust the state government to do what is right or trust it only some of the time.” When the year of austerity hits the states, elected officials may find their constituents marching on their state capitol steps rather than in Washington DC.

 

About the author:
Founder and President of Regan Designs, an entrepreneur and design engineer, inventor (11 patents) and problem solver, specializing in designing electromechanical products for clients in the medical, aerospace, defense, marine and automotive industries. Bent co-developed the Liquid Robotics "Wave Glider", which won the 2010 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation AWARD. He was the Co-Founder and President of Regan Stent (Coronary Vascular stents) and inventor of the Electronic Flight Bag (a self contained tablet computer for commercial aviation navigation). Brent was the builder of the Regan Lancair IV-P High performance (300 MPH) experimental aircraft. He is an instrument rated private pilot and winner of the 1996 Great Cross Country Air Race. Brent was also the Co-Founder and Director of Engineering of Schilling Robotics Servohydraulic Telemanipulators (Robotic Arms) for hazardous and remote applications, used to seal the recent Gulf Oil Leak. He also was the Founder and President of Genesis Engineering (1982-1986) high performance engine development for motorsports, and founder of Porschetech Inc., Porsche automobile service and racing preparation. Brent won the RDC 4 hour Endurance Road Race twice (1982 & 1983) and the USARM Award for Competitive Achievement (1983). Brent was also the Designer and Builder of the “Plug-In” street licensed electric car (1977).  Brent has been a member of American Mensa High IQ society since 1993 and in the 99.9 percentile ranking, the Society of Automotive Engineers since 1983, and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association since 1992.  He enjoys life in North Idaho with his wife of 24 years and three children.
 

Kinne Named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week

Staff Report

University of Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne was selected as the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week, it was announced by the league office today.
 

The 6’2” junior was responsible for 36 points in Tulsa’s 56-50 victory over Southern Miss last Friday. Kinne completed 62 percent of his passes and was 23-of-37 for a career-best 406 yards and four touchdowns. He threw TD passes of 40, 27, 67 and 12 yards. With Tulsa trailing 31-28, Kinne’s 67-yard touchdown pass to Willie Carter with 7:10 left in the third quarter gave the Hurricane the lead at 35-31. Kinne also ran for 48 yards and two touchdowns on runs of one and three yards.
 
It’s the second C-USA Offensive Player of the Week award this year for Kinne. His earlier honor came after his performance against Houston on Nov. 13th.

 

The Facts on G.J. Kinne:
Kinne is a returning letterwinner, junior and starter . . . transferred to Tulsa from the University of Texas prior to the 2008 season . . . was named to the C-USA Academic Honor Roll in 2008 and 2009 . . . 2009 — Started all 12 games . . . completed 61-percent of his passes for 2,732 yards, 22 TDs and a 227.7 average per game . . . his passing yardage total ranks as the seventh-best single-season mark . . . also rushed for a team-high 393 yards for 3,125 total yards . . . was named to the Manning Award Watch List . . . had three 300+ passing games . . . ranked third in C-USA for passing average (227.7), fourth for total offense (260.4) and pass efficiency (142.6) . . . had a career-high 396 passing yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 88 yards and one TD against Southern Miss . . . had a streak of 95 passes attempted before throwing an interception against SMU . . . became the first quarterback in school history to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in the same game when he threw for 334 yards and rushed for 100 yards against #13 Houston . . . completed 15-of-20 passes for 211 yards and one TD, and rushed for 77 yards and one TD in his first collegiate game against Tulane in the season opener . . . threw for 310 yards and a season-best four TDs, and rushed for 47 yards vs. New Mexico . . . completed 12-of-15 passes for 264 yards, while tying his season-high of 4 touchdown passes against Sam Houston State . . . totaled 268 yards and three TDs in the season finale against Memphis, while running for a team-high 57 yards . . . 2008 — Sat out the season due to transfer rules after transferring from Texas . . . Overall — Gained invaluable experience last year as a first-year starter . . . has great athleticism . . . has the ability to make plays with his feet . . . has impressive arm strength . . . understands his role . . . possesses great leadership abilities . . . has a good work ethic . . . completed 11-of-23 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns in the spring game . . . had TD passes of 28 and 31 yards in the spring game, while running for one touchdown as well.

Previous College — Red-shirted at Texas in the 2007 campaign.

High School — Played his senior season at Gilmer High School and his first three years at Canton High School . . . led his high school teams to an overall 38-9 record . . . was a prep All-American quarterback at Gilmer (Texas) High School and a two-time Class 3A Offensive Player of the Year as a senior . . . finished his prep career ranked third in Texas high school history in passing yards (11,695) and second in touchdown passes (130) . . . also rushed for 3,327 yards and 48 TDs in four seasons . . . played in the 2007 East Meets West All-American game after his senior season . . . was a four-year starter at quarterback and also started as a free safety his first three years . . . accounted for touchdowns in six different ways (pass, rush, receiving, KR, PR and INT return) in high school . . . threw for 3,216 yards and 47 TDs with only one interception, while rushing for 400 yards and 11 TDs as a senior . . . earned Class 3A Offensive Player of the Year honors from the Associated Press and the Texas Sports Writers Association as a senior . . . was also named the district 15-3A MVP as he led Gilmer to a 10-1 record and a No. 11 ranking in the Texas Football Top-25 his senior season . . . finished his career by throwing 217 consecutive passes without an interception, while also completing at least four TD passes in eight of 11 games.

Personal — Favorite movie is Varsity Blues . . . his favorite TV show is "Lost" . . . the Philadelphia Eagles is his favorite NFL team . . . Brett Favre is his favorite NFL player . . . Alex Rodriguez is his favorite pro athlete . . . favorite beverage is lemonade, while his favorite food is steak . . . his favorite sport to watch besides football is baseball . . . lists former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy as the most impressive person that he has ever met . . . a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes . . . has three younger siblings . . . full name is Gary Joe Kinne . . . parents are Gary Kinne and Jocelyne Carter . . . majoring in business.