Stan's Blog

Boomer Sooner!

Great news! We recently learned that my brother-in-law scored tickets to the OU-TCU football game in Norman on September 27, so the wife and I are looking forward to a healthy dose of Sooner Magic! We'll be in Oklahoma already for a family wedding, so it all worked out perfectly.

You might think this is no big deal for somebody whose job centers around attending and administering collegiate sporting events. But Sooner Football is a whole different animal! And, truthfully, my role working in college sports has kept me from following the Sooners as closely as I'd like, since I'm normally busy following the teams and events in my own conference.

When you grow up in Oklahoma, Sooner Football shines in the same light as do the Dallas Cowboys for those who grow up in the DFW Metroplex. There really is a statewide sense of pride that surrounds the OU football team.

And for somebody who's been to more than my fair share of sporting events, I honestly think I've only attended a handful of Sooner football games. Probably just half of those have been on OU's campus in Norman, where the pageantry is palpable and the atmosphere is awesome.

I'm not certain of every Sooner game that I might have attended over the years, but I know my first game was in November 1980, when the Sooners trounced Lawrence Taylor's UNC Tar Heels, 41-7.

I know I attended one of the classic OU-Nebraska battles of the 1980's. It was either 1985 - during OU's national championship season - or in 1987, not sure which. That might have been the last time I was in Memorial Stadium for an OU game, unless I'm forgetting one.

I saw the Sooners' 10-3 Cotton Bowl win over Arkansas in January 2002, and I was present for OU's ugly 35-7 loss to Kansas State in the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game.

So, needless to say, I can't wait to see the Pride of Oklahoma marching band take the field before kickoff. My ears are ever so anxious to hear that famous Boomer Sooner tune. And I'll be watching for the Sooner Schooner (pictured above) to make a lap after that first OU touchdown.

Boomer Sooner, baby!

posted by Stan W @ 10:00 AM