Oklahoma State athletic director, Mike Holder. ZACH GRAY/Tulsa World
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MIKE HOLDER'S mission, should he decide to accept it, is to create this: Bedlam-Bieber Fever.
This request to Oklahoma State's athletic director won't self-destruct in five seconds like the ones on those tapes in the old "Mission: Impossible" television series.
Friday's announcement that next season's Oklahoma-Oklahoma State football game will move back a week turned up the heat on both sides of the Bedlam rivalry.
To paraphrase Elvis, Bedlam's temperature will keep on rising if Holder can convince Justin Bieber to sing the National Anthem before the Dec. 3 game at Boone Pickens Stadium.
It would be the perfect final touch to an OSU 2011 schedule that could be the most special in school history.
OSU fans know the Bedlam-Bieber Fever idea isn't as far-fetched are it seems to outsiders.
Bieber and Cowboys' coach Mike Gundy have developed a long-distance relationship. It started when the then 17-year-old Canadian pop star revealed the ringtone on his cell phone is a snippet of Gundy's "I'm a man" rant during a 2007 press conference.
Gundy responded by installing Bieber's hit song "Baby" as the ringtone on his phone. He also announced that he would like to have the teenage heartthrob visit OSU and check out Boone Pickens Stadium, the site of the 2011 Bedlam game.
"I would prefer that he come and sing and perform a concert here, and buy a suite," Gundy said.
Holder's pitch to Bieber could include the opportunity to perform at a sold-out concert inside Gallagher-Iba Arena the night before the game.
He also could note that singing the national anthem would come in front of more than 60,000 spectators in the stadium and a millions more watching the telecast of what could be a humongous game.
Hey, this would an equal-opportunity Bedlam event. After all, OU standout safety Tony Jefferson revealed in a recent press conference that he's a Bieber fan who's "got the fever."
Even if Holder can't convince "The Bieb" to experience Bedlam football OSU's season still has the potential to be as special as it can get for the Cowboy Nation.
Delaying Bedlam a week so it can be played on "Championship Saturday" was the latest addition to the Cowboys' already compelling schedule.
The highlight is the rare opportunity to pull off a Stoops brothers sweep in the same season and on national TV.
OSU hosts Arizona and coach Mike Stoops in the second game on Sept. 10. While it isn't official, the contest is expected to move to Sept. 8 for an ESPN Thursday night national telecast.
The Cowboys whipped Arizona four months ago in the Alamo Bowl. Many supporters would love to see the Pokes apply a second spanking to Mike Stoops, who didn't endear himself with the OSU fan base when he was OU's defensive coordinator for five seasons.
Bob Stoops is loathed by Cowboys everywhere simply because he coaches the hated Sooners. But he has amped up their dislike by taking some subtle jabs at the OSU program over the years while building a 10-2 Bedlam record, including a current eight-game winning streak.
An OSU win over OU in the season's final regular-season game could be even sweeter than a Stoops brothers sweep. In addition to in-state bragging rights, the stakes also could include a Big 12 championship and a spot in the BCS national title game.
While Gundy handled the younger Stoops brother with that 36-10 bowl win last December, he's 0-6 as a head coach against the older Stoops.
Gundy made history in that Alamo Bowl victory, which capped an 11-2 season. He became the first coach in OSU history to win 11 games.
It also set the stage for potentially bigger things in 2011, especially after All-Big 12 quarterback Brandon Weeden and All-American receiver Justin Blackmon opted not to leave early for the NFL.
That potential was realized Friday when the Big 12 moved the Bedlam game back from Nov. 26. The league hopes the switch will combat other BCS conferences from hogging all the attention on the day leagues will hold their championship games.
Gundy was absolutely correct Friday when he said moving the Bedlam game was a definite sign of respect the Big 12 has developed for his program. Conference officials obviously believe the OU-OSU contest has a chance to draw huge TV ratings.
"When they come and hand-pick you to play on Championship Saturday," Gundy said, "it kind of shows where we are at."
OU has lorded its dominance of the series over OSU for years. So the idea of helping the Cowboys rise to their level won't sit well with the Sooners.
OU's idea of a made-for-TV game was those epic late-season showdowns with Nebraska. But the Cornhuskers' jump to the Big Ten makes those shootouts a part of yesteryear and creates different challenges for the Sooners.
Holder pointed that out and helped stoke the heated rivalry when he said the "the Big 12 Conference has moved into a new era. We are excited to host Bedlam on one of the biggest days of the college football season."
The Cowboys AD can truly make it a new day by accepting the impossible mission of turning this season's game into "Bedlam-Bieber Fever."
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