No Father's Son

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No Father's Son

Post by redsox907 » 28 Mar 2026, 00:24

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Does the Cream Rise To The Top? — Oklahoma Sooners 2029 Season Preview
Boone Tillman // Sooner BornPublished: August 20th, 2029

Well folks, the 'false Fall' is officially here which means the Oklahoma Sooners' season kickoff isn't far behind. Anyone who's been to an opening game at Gaylord-Memorial knows that by the time September 1st hits, this fall-like weather is going to be a distant, but welcome, memory.

What is not expected to cool down anytime soon is the expectations surrounding Armando Leon's first year as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners—and, it's worth noting, only his second year as a collegiate head coach, period. I know that Leon had rapid success at Maryland, and before that as a coordinator for Oregon State and Montana State, but getting instant results with low expectations at Maryland is nothing compared to the pressure cooker Leon has inherited where Sooners fans, myself included, are itching for results.

Coach Leon has been his typical passionate self throughout the offseason, but has added a bit more bite in his recent interviews. Those close to the defensive guru say he's 'embracing the villain role' this season after listening to an offseason full of criticism, and it showed during SEC Media Day earlier this month.

"Expectations are a compliment, first and foremost," corrected Leon when asked how his team is framing the increased expectations going into his first year, despite coming off a 4-8 record, "It means that the culture and standard we've set indicates we are going to meet, or exceed, the expected status quo. If people expect greatness before they've seen it, it means you're doing something right."

"That being said, we hope there's a target on our back. We spent the entire offseason listening to the doubts and the critiques, now it's time for us to get animalistic. The animal kingdom is the most pure form of hierarchy and role definition that there is—and we're taking the field each and every week like an apex predator. We're going to take what we want and if you want to stop us? Good luck, 'cause we're tired of listening to why we should fail. We're ready to show why we won't."

Listen folks, we've seen this act before. Venables was a fiery and energetic guy too, but Leon just sounds different at the mic. He isn't just talking, or trying to rah-rah his team—you listen to him talk and he really believes the sky is the limit for this team, the only thing holding them back is themselves.

I'll say, you may want to add the offense to that list, because after the Spring Game I have a wagon full of questions.

But it frankly all boils down to, is our defense that good, the offense that bad, or is it a happy medium? Because, I really, really want to believe our defense is that good. And it totally tracks.

Karlos Vigil is a one-man wrecking crew in the middle, but the problem last year is too often he saw double, and sometimes triple, teams that kept him from being impactful. That isn't the case anymore. You saw more variety in the blitz packages during our spring scrimmage, than you saw on the field against the Texas Longhorns last season. Now, teams have to fear committing too many guys to Vigil, or pay the price.

With the Sooners able to get after the quarterback without sending extra pressure, everything on the backend opens up like a flower in bloom. Kyle Brinks and Tyler Jacques can use their athleticism and instincts to make plays all over the field—they practically lived in the backfield during the Spring Game, and the secondary has the autonomy to play to their greatest strengths, man coverage.

"You can expect our guys to be in their man's face every play, non-stop," cautioned defensive back coach Patrick Surtain Sr when speaking about the expectations of his corners this season, "Every single one of 'em has the skills to play on an island, and if you want to see the field this season, you'd better be running Sentinel Island out there. No visitors, no landing, nothin'."

The problem is, defense hasn't been a problem since Hollywood Riley packed his bags and his god-awful defensive gameplan and headed to Los Angeles. Venables was brought in as a defensive guru and he did that job to a T for the most part. It was the offense that always lagged behind. The spring game was encouraging, if you take the turnovers out of the equation.

"It's being addressed. We've run those plays back so many times, I think the boys see them in their sleep," laughed newly hired offensive coordinator Jerry Mack, but with a hint of seriousness underneath the laugh. "We have a higher expectation of ourselves than that. We made some big plays and that's encouraging, but we've got to clean everything else up."

Mack quickly added a final caveat for argument's sake, "I'm not making excuses, but if by the end of the season our own defense turned out to be the toughest unit we faced, I wouldn't be surprised. I think you'll see much better results for my boys when we aren't going against arguably the No. 1 defensive mind in collegiate football."

I want to believe Coach Mack, but Cole Welliver has got to show me something. He barely completed 55% of his passes last season and that same trend showed in the Spring Game. The thing that makes me madder than a wet hen? You watch that Goliath in practice and the ball never hits the ground. That's not an exaggeration, it never does! So what happens in the game where suddenly passes are sailing high, low, and everywhere in between is beyond me.

I will give him a slight reprieve, even with Matt Suggs and a veteran offensive line last year, Welliver was running for his life. And by running, I mean grinding, because at 6'7" that boy would lose a race to a tortoise. Which brings me to another problem:

What the heck is going on with the offensive line?

Coaches Leon and Ferentz barely blitzed in the Spring Game, and I'm told that wasn't by design. They just didn't have to. Maybe that's another case of great vs elite, and it better be for our own sakes.

The lone bright spot was Oscar Robledo, who was a one-man wrecking crew when he was on the field. Between the tackles, bouncing it outside, or catching flares out of the backfield, he turned even the most routine play into must-watch football. But, we can only rely on that for so long before the SEC teams start catching on.

We have dynamic receivers, a talented running back room, and a quarterback who appears to have all the tools. It's time for the Sooners to put it together, for all of our sakes.

Oklahoma won't even get a cupcake warm up game this year, as they dive right into the season with the return of "Bedlam" as the Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-5 in 2028) will mosey on down to Norman in the historic rivalry's renewal and their first meeting since 2023, a game the Cowboys won mind you.

It doesn't get any easier from there either. Armando Leon and the Sooners will have to prove how tough they are as Week Two sees them travel up to Eugene, Oregon to face Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks; a brewing rivalry that needs no further context. If Leon and Lanning both stick with their respective schools for the foreseeable future, this could easily become one of the premier 'new age' rivalries of this era of college football.

The trip to Oregon is the first of four straight road games for the Sooners, who only have two home games in the first eight weeks of the season, which will test their poise early in Leon's first season.

When asked about the minimal home games, Leon brushed off the concern.

"Defense travels, speed travels, physicality travels. The only downside is that the recruits on our big board won't be in house to see us whoop some SEC ass. Hopefully, the other schools will schedule some visits while we're in town so we can get an early jump on recruiting."

Are you picking up what I'm putting down about Leon embracing the villain role this season? Our coach is on demon time, as the kids would say. Or, at least that's what my son's been saying since SEC Media Day.

Regardless, it's put up or shut up time in Norman. I'm hoping we're putting up, 'cause quite frankly I'm tired of shutting up.


•••


2029 Oklahoma Sooners Roster
96 Overall / 95 Offense / 97 Defense
► Show Spoiler


Oklahoma Sooners 2029 Schedule
► Show Spoiler
Last edited by redsox907 on 30 Mar 2026, 18:34, edited 1 time in total.
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No Father's Son

Post by redsox907 » 29 Mar 2026, 14:43

Chapter Forty: Consistency

The Spring Game was supposed to be my moment; when I showed everyone I had the mettle to be the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. I’d taken the abuse all offseason, from everywhere. Local media, national media, opposing coaches, old colleagues, bloggers who never even met me; they all came out of the woodwork to get their 15 seconds of fame by bashing ‘#TemuKiffin.’

I won’t say I always handle it with grace, but aside from a few snide comments, or quick facial expressions, I acknowledged the jabs while reasserting we were ready. I was just biding my time, sure that like every stop prior, once I was able to showcase what I could do on the field, with my team, the questions would dissipate.

It didn’t work this time. With our modified scoring for the game, the defense won the day. My defense.

Yet, all the talk was about another version of the same movie they’ve watched since Lincoln Riley left.

“It’s Venables 2.0!” posted one user on IG, with another quickly commenting, “How long until we’re back to blaming the offensive coordinator, and not the coach?”

“I just can’t win with these damn people,” I bemoaned, slamming my laptop shut harder than I meant to. Another day of local media blogs lambasting me for showing I was just another Venables clone; all defense, no offense.

“Montana State, Oregon State, Maryland; take your pick. Any of them would bend over backwards to have a defense set the tone like that, but these guys? You’d think I’d robbed their Grandma or something with how disgusted they are.”

“This is what you signed up for.” Jessica’s voice floated from the kitchen, the sing-song making the sound carry farther than normal. It wasn’t malicious, just matter of fact, the way most of her criticisms had been since she and the kids joined me in Norman earlier this March.

“I signed up to coach football, not be publicly drawn and quartered each week.”

Silence from the kitchen; Jessica had made her point. She left me at the table brooding for a few minutes while she finished cleaning up dinner before emerging from the kitchen with cheesecake for the both of us, leftovers from AJ’s birthday party the day before.

“I’m just saying, the Sooners fans are like a scorned lover right now. They thought Venables was the answer, but he ended up disappointing them by not measuring up to what they thought he was,” began Jessica, sitting down across from me at our large black-oak dining table and sliding my cheesecake to me as she continued.

“Now, you show up. Hot shot that everybody wants, but doing the exact same thing Venables did. Now, they’re wondering: are you their answer, or the rebound to make them realize why Venables wasn’t the answer?”

The silence stretched as she took her first bite of cheesecake, letting the words settle where they needed to before she continued. This speech wasn’t just about the Sooners, I quickly realized.

“You’re doing everything that’s worked for you in the past; showing up the right way, putting in the effort, trying to prove why you’re worthy,” Jessica resumed, not waiting for my response.

“The problem is Armando, that’s what worked when things were easy. No one expected you to be the savior in the beginning, they just expected you to be you. Now there are standards, expectations, and commitment. You can’t just do everything that worked when the circumstances were easy, and expect them to work when things get tough.”

“When things get tough, you’ve got to man up and prove that you’re tough enough to uphold your own standards. Through the noise, the drama, the heartache. Prove that you’re the same person with the same commitment when things are comfortable, as when things get tough. You’ve got to prove you aren’t going to run, Armando.”

“I’ve never run from a challenge, Jessica. That’s not fair,” I quickly interjected, setting my fork down with conviction to prove my point.

Jessica’s eyebrows raised as she took her own bite, chewing it slowly and deliberately before responding.

“To play devil’s advocate, Armando. What would be a greater challenge? Staying at Oregon State despite the tension with Jonathan and continuing to build the small program, or running to Maryland and their wealth of resources to be ‘the man’?”

I started to counter, but a quick shushing gesture from Jessica left the words stuck in my throat. She had a point to make, and once she started I wasn’t going to be able to stop her. Instead, I took another bite of cheesecake to keep myself from arguing and nodded for her to continue.

“I’m not saying that move was wrong, Armando. Just putting the facts that the rest of the country sees into perspective.”

“And that leads us to Norman. What would be easier, staying in the Big Ten as the ‘underdog’ Maryland Terrapins, without the benefit of surprise, as you tried to backup a landmark season, or run to the blue-blooded SEC program?”

“You might see it as running towards ambition, Armando, but the rest of the world sees a lack of commitment and empty promises. Fair or not. And I can’t say I blame them.”

I started again to argue, but this time, there were no words to even swallow down. It was the question I’d asked myself on the snow covered deck back in Maryland, a question I’d never been able to resolve. But now, it was even more pointed; because Jessica saw it too. Only, this time it was layered with her disappointment from the move to Norman re-emerging.

We hadn’t fully addressed the situation since Jessica and the kids arrived, glossing it over in the excitement of the family coming together again. In the months since, I’d tried to broach the subject with Jessica, but could never find the words to bring my emotions to life. So we’d continued the charade of the happy couple, all while the underlying emotions lay festering just under the surface.

At this point, I wasn’t sure if I was defending myself against the media, or against my own wife. Finally, I decided the route I wanted to take.

I gently set my fork down and met Jessica’s stare. Not in anger, but remorse.

“I guess, I don’t know what to do to make it all right, Jessica. I know that the little things—remembering important events, looking out for job openings, helping take some of the childcare and housework duties off your shoulders—none of that really makes up for the betrayal. I’m sorry I never said it in the moment, but I wish I had handled the whole transition cleaner.”

“I put my own goals ahead of yours and tried to justify it. Even worse, I didn’t apologize, or even recognize, what I was doing. Just barreled blindly forward while you trudged through the debris I left in my wake.

“I’m sorry, Jessica. I know that doesn’t heal the wound, but I don’t know what else to do to make it right.”

Sitting unspoken between us, and unbeknownst to Jessica, was the heavier secret that sat in my travel bag, tucked into my office for now. The two letters threatening to unravel the distance I’d put between my father and myself. I almost told her then, like a peace offering, but quickly realized that compounding what I’d already put her through with a secret she deserved to know, would not generate the response I was hoping for. This wasn’t the moment.

“Consistency,” she answered softly, “Keep showing me you are the man I married. That’s what fixes it, Armando. Not acts of kindness, not words of affirmation. Consistency. Show me how tough you are.”

She reached across the table and gently put her hand on top of mine. It was a small gesture, but the despair that had begun to sink in during her speech started to dissipate. Things weren’t lost between us. I just needed to show, over time, that I wasn’t going to keep putting her into those situations.

“And that’s what Oklahoma needs too. They don’t need a man standing in front of a mic, telling them everything he’s going to do. They want someone who shows them. All you showed them at the spring game, is you were the same man they ran out of town.”

Again, I began to quickly speak up in self-defense, but this time Jessica raised her hands in a defensive gesture, adding: “Fair or not, that’s their perception.”

I wanted to argue my point, defend myself. Against the media I had no say, that was the nature of national media. They printed it, you reacted to it. But here, in my own home, I had the right to defend myself. Yet, every time I started, the look on Jessica’s face stopped me in my tracks.

“The Spring Game was a lose-lose situation, Armando. Stop holding onto that. If the offense looks great, you’re a defensive guru who got his ass handed to him. If the defense wins?”

She held her hand out and open in a simple gesture that said, ‘you see the results.’

“But, until you can show them consistency on the field, give them something different. Take all of this negative media attention, the Kiffin comparisons, all of it. Use it as fuel and lean into it. They want to turn you into the villain?”

“Be the best god-damn villain you can. Turn it into an ‘us against the world,’ mindset with the team. Don’t go out there and try to prove you belong, you’ve already shown that.”

“Now, you have to show the rest of the country why they should be scared of you, Armando.”

We met eyes from across the table one more time. Things weren’t resolved, not by a long shot, and definitely not while the letters sat unresolved in my travel bag. But the road was starting to get paved, slowly, one stretch of road at a time.

“I can do that,” I said with a confident nod, “On both accounts.”

I carried that mindset into SEC Media Day, answering questions about expectations and turning them into a statement:

"Expectations are a compliment, first and foremost," I acknowledged, before putting Jessica’s thoughts into action.

"That being said, we hope there's a target on our back. We spent the entire offseason listening to the doubts and the critiques, now it's time for us to get animalistic. The animal kingdom is the most pure form of hierarchy and role definition that there is—and we're taking the field each and every week like an apex predator. We're going to take what we want and if you want to stop us? Good luck, 'cause we're tired of listening to why we should fail. We're ready to show why we won't."

It didn’t stop there. Every media obligation from there on out, I wouldn’t back down from that stance. “Doubt us if you want, just be prepared to look silly when we take the cake and smear your face in it,” I proclaimed on more than a few occasions.

The team took the message and ran with it. From Cole Welliver to Karlos Vigil, Oscar Robledo to Kyle Brink; every leader in the Sooners locker room delivered a message during their media appearances, on their socials, to anyone that would listen:

“Everyone else spent all offseason tearing us down, now you get to listen to us talk our talk. And if you don’t like it? Come shut us up. We dare you.”

“We spent the last three months talking our talk boys,” I hollered in the locker room as we prepared to take the field for the first “Bedlam Series” since Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were in the Big 12 together.

“Now it’s time to back that shit up. Remember, everybody wants to talk big dog shit, until it’s time to be the big dog. Well boys, now’s the time.”

“Oklahoma State is out there on the field, pissin’ down their leg. They ain’t built for this. We are,” I proclaimed, beating my chest with my clipboard as I spoke. The whole team started pounding their equipment in unison, quieting only when I raised my clipboard back into the air.

“The last time we played the Cowboys, they won in what was thought to be the finale of the Bedlam Series. Let’s make them regret reigniting this rivalry. ‘Cause it ain’t gonna be the ‘Bedlam Series’ anymore, boys. It’s going to be called Bedrock.”

“Because that’s where we’re going to leave their sorry asses after we pound them into the ground for 60 minutes!”

The rallying cries and cheers continued down the hallway as we each took our turn touching the ‘Play Like A Champion Today” sign down the hall, until it was drowned out by the 80,000 Sooners fans screaming as ‘Boomer Schooner’ was belted out by the marching band.

Right before we stormed the field, Karlos Vigil put his massive arm on my shoulder and pulled me close.

“They already pissin down the leg, coach,” the senior laughed, pointing across to the Oklahoma State players looking around in awe.

“They gonna be doing that all season,” I joked back before running onto the field with the team.
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djp73
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No Father's Son

Post by djp73 » 29 Mar 2026, 16:23

lets get it
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Captain Canada
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Post by Captain Canada » 29 Mar 2026, 20:08

That recruiting board is hefty. Like program-changing hefty :obama:
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Caesar
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Post by Caesar » 30 Mar 2026, 10:49

No excuses now, buddy
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redsox907
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Post by redsox907 » 30 Mar 2026, 20:52

djp73 wrote:
29 Mar 2026, 16:23
lets get it
:weready:
Captain Canada wrote:
29 Mar 2026, 20:08
That recruiting board is hefty. Like program-changing hefty :obama:
we're tired of watching the Longhorns run this shit. It's our turn now
Caesar wrote:
30 Mar 2026, 10:49
No excuses now, buddy
:whome:

never excuses
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redsox907
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Post by redsox907 » 30 Mar 2026, 20:52

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2029 Week One Preview - Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma
Boone Tillman // Sooner BornPublished: September 1st, 2029

It's put up or shut up time for Coach Leon and the Oklahoma Sooners as they renew the "Bedlam Series" against in-state rival Oklahoma State. Coach Leon and the rest of the 2029 Sooners have fully embraced the "us versus them" mindset going into this season, fueled by a summer full of discussion revolving around Armando Leon and his credentials, and are ready to unleash an offseason's worth of vitriol on the visiting Cowboys.

The last time these two historic Oklahoma programs met, the Cowboys won with a surprising 27-24 victory in Stillwater that many thought was the end of the long-standing rivalry. Despite the results from 2023, Oklahoma has shellacked the Cowboys on more than one occasion, owning a 90-21-7 record against little brother Oklahoma State. Add in that the Cowboys have only won in Norman twice since the turn of the century, in 2001 and 2014 respectively, and the gravedigger should already be sizing up their caskets. I expect this one to be a bloodbath of epic proportions as the Sooners and Leon look to dismiss any notion that they aren't tough enough to make some noise this season.

After the short stat graphic, shoutout to the production crew for all their hard work, we'll get to "Schooner Scoop" where we ask the questions Sooner Nation needs answered.


•••

Oklahoma Sooners                       | Description                   | Oklahoma State Cowboys
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
81 Overall // 81 Offense // 81 Defense | Team Rating                   | 77 Overall // 76 Offense // 79 Defense
Armando Leon (11-3)                    | Head Coach                    | Kalani Sitake (23-15)
Spread                                 | Offensive Scheme              | Power Spread
3-3-5                                  | Defensive Scheme              | 4-3 Multiple

Oklahoma Sooners                       Oklahoma State Cowboys
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SR(RS) Cole Welliver (91)      | QB  | SR(RS) Andrew Alford (85)
JR(RS) Oscar Robledo (89)      | HB  | SO(RS) LaMarcus Kalis (87)
SR(RS) Ja'Kayden Ferguson (92) | WR  | SR(RS) Royal Capell
SR(RS) Elijah Thomas (89)      | WR  | SO(RS) Desmond Sweat (75)
SR(RS) Karlos Vigil (92)       | DEF | SR CB Jamal Everett (88)
JR MLB Kyle Brink (91)         | DEF | JR(RS) Alfonso Ekanem (83)
SO(RS) CB Richard Trainer (91) | DEF | JR Jimmy Cannida (79)
SR(RS) CB Ralph Saylor (91)    | DEF | JR Malcolm Ramsay (79)


SEC Week One Schedule
► Show Spoiler


•••


Schooner Scoop

BT: "Coach Leon, welcome to the Schooner Scoop. Just so I'm shooting it straight with ya, we don't pull any punches around these parts. I hope you got some thick skin, 'cause if things don't go the way we hope early, some of these questions can get downright uncomfortable."

AL: "Thanks for having me Boone. Thanks for the warning, I guess it's a good thing we don't plan on doing much losing then, eh?"

BT:*claps hands together* That is what I'm talking about! That actually leads us into our first question. The team, including yourself, have not shied away from being vocal about silencing the doubters this season. Do you think that puts extra pressure on the team to perform right away, and how do you manage those expectations in real time if things don't go your way early?"

AL: "I think there's a fine line between being confident and talking just to talk. We haven't gone out of our way to say anything that we haven't prepared for internally. When you prepare the way we have since the Spring Game, you expect to win. That isn't cockiness, in my eyes, that's holding yourself to a standard and planning on executing it. We're going to approach each game in a vacuum with the knowledge that regardless of the performance, the goal is to win. Whether it's by 1 or 100, all that matters is the number in the win column keeps trending up."

BT: "What do you want to see from the offense against Oklahoma State? 'Cause I'll be blunt, Cole looked exactly the same in the Spring Game as he did all last season. Big arm, but couldn't hit the broadside of the barn all last season."

AL: "I will say, I think it's unfair to judge our offense based on the Spring Game, 'cause when the dust settles this season, we're gonna be a top 5 defense. Take that to the bank. Our boys aren't going to be going up against a defense of that caliber every week, so I think you'll see a much improved Cole. We've got a lot of quick passing stuff built in that will help him get into a rhythm and open things up deep. Where we might get into trouble is relying too much on the deep ball, and not setting it up. So long as we can stay away from living and dying by the home run play, we'll be alright."

BT: "Fair enough, coach. I'll try and hold back my reservations until we see the boys on the field, but they gotta show me something on the field to erase the memories of last season. Final question, Coach. Can we get you to commit to a win total this year? Really put your money where your mouth is and back up all of that talk?"

AL: "I'm not going to give you a win total, but I will say this. We're gonna flip that record from last year around, no doubt about it, but I'll go farther than that. We're gonna make the CFP, point blank. Bet your house, your pension, your first born kid. We going for the throat year one."


•••



Now THAT is the type of attitude we wanted to see from Armando Leon after an offseason of talk. Putting his money where his mouth is and putting his name on that bullet. Now, we'll see if his boys can back up his mouth. 'Cause if they thought the target was on their back before, it certainly is now.

Week One just got a lot more interesting. Needless to say, the Sooners need to have a big showing to back up the explosive guarantee Coach Leon just made.

And I think they do it.

14 Oklahoma State, 45 Oklahoma. And, I think that's being generous. If this is a 40-point blowout, you won't catch me feigning surprise.
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Captain Canada
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Post by Captain Canada » 30 Mar 2026, 21:36

Should be able to handle this rivalry game with relative ease. Fuck State.
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redsox907
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Post by redsox907 » 31 Mar 2026, 01:00

Captain Canada wrote:
30 Mar 2026, 21:36
Should be able to handle this rivalry game with relative ease. Fuck State.
we ain't starting a new era with a loss, rest assured fam :baze:
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Post by redsox907 » 31 Mar 2026, 01:00

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