Oklahoma football game

Go straight to the PICTURES (mouse over pics to read the captions)

Hey guys! Well, something really cool happened last Saturday. I didn't start to get interested in football until about a year ago, but after living in Oklahoma it has rubbed off on me--it's hard not to get swept up in the enthusiasm. After 9+ months of trying to get my head wrapped around this ridiculously complicated sport, I finally got to attend my first real college football game.

So, Saturday I headed to the OU campus in Norman, just south of OKC. My work friend Huntur was kind enough to go with me, & answer about a hundred questions that day. The Sooners were playing the Utah State Aggies, which unfortunately was not a great pairing--Oklahoma is a much better team, and Utah was seriously overmatched. OU scored their first touchdown within a minute or two of play, and then continued to pound the bejeezus out of the the Utah team the entire game. OU ended up winning easily by more than 50 points. That makes three home games in a row that they've effortlessly blown away the other team. Who made the schedule this season? However, this Friday night's game against Tulsa is supposed to be GOOD. Tulsa has a strong offense and a grudge to prove, so hopefully it will be a real challenge.

Anyways, it was quite a spectacle--they fire an honest-to-God cannon every time OU kicks off, and blow off fireworks each time they score! A white horse and covered wagon made circles around the field after touchdowns. The OU band was there & played their 5-second fight song, "Boomer Sooner", about TEN THOUSAND TIMES. Being in the same place with 80,000+ other excited and crazy people was quite an experience. Compared to TV, it was definitely MUCH more interesting watching the game in person. Four quarters seemed to go by VERY quickly. I have a few pictures from the game posted here. My camera wouldn't take good pictures of the actual play, but I got some good ones of the fans.

After it was all over, I had ringing in my ears, an awful fight song stuck in my head, a sunburn from sitting in the Okie sun for four hours, & a headache from three hours in traffic trying to get HOME after the game. But, I can't WAIT to go again!!!

Much love--xoxo,
Layla

20 Days Until Kickoff

A funny followup to my post last weekend. One of my neighbors has a mailbox shaped like an oversized, red and white Sooners helmet. The very next morning after my last post, I drove by to find it had been mysteriously bashed to pieces in the middle of the night. It wasn't just knocked off the post, it was knocked off & into the street, where it was clubbed into about 5 pieces. This didn't look like the usual mailbox bashing since every other one in the neighborhood was completely untouched. I guess that makes it a hate crime! :)

This mailbox was so defeated that there was no bringing it back--or so I thought. When I drove home that night I was shocked to see it up again, sitting on the mailpost held together by glue, tape and pride. 20 days left until kickoff, and as they say, it's on!!!

27 Days Until Kickoff

Hey y'all!
Well, there's a giant flashing billboard on my way to work counting down the days. Not until back to school or Christmas, but rather the start of a special brand of insanity known as football season in Oklahoma. I've lived in Texas, where they're pretty damn football crazy, & lived in Seattle where there is a pretty passionate college rivalry.... But, neither one even comes close to this. People in Washington may plant their flowerbeds in Husky or Cougar colors, but here rival fans have been known to break each other's windshields out.

Things have been made even more interesting this year by the Sooners' 3-way race for starting Quarterback, & the recent NCAA sanction ordering them to "erase" all their wins for the 2005 season (for you non-fans, it's hard to describe how painful this is for a football program... i'd compare it to having your entire junior year of college erased, & being told you have to repeat it). Even though it's the hottest time of year w/every day pushing the triple digits, people have already started the Friday night tailgate parties. The evening news spends more time talking about football than Iraq, next year's presidential race, terrorrism and world events combined... And the season hasn't even started yet.

It's funny to see otherwise normal people dressed from head to toe in team colors and face paint for game days. Last year I tried to joke w/an older couple about the fact that they were dressed like a couple of Tony-the-Tigers, & was told very sharpy that OSU is "God's School", & the only institutions of higher learning in Oklahoma are OSU and Sunday School. Ouch. The only thing OU and OSU seem to agree on is how much they hate TEXAS. The annual Cottonbowl or "Red River Shootout" between OU and the UT Longhorns is such a long-standing tradition that it even has a page on Wikipedia. Tickets can be harder to get & more expensive than the Superbowl. The yearly Bedlam game played every Thanksgiving between OU and OSU IS the Oklahoma Superbowl.

And speaking of the Superbowl, there is a Baptist church I drive by on the way to work. Usually they have a bible verse or sermon info on the billboard, but back in January during the week before the Superbowl they replaced it with this instead:

Sunday Service 10-11
Superbowl Party 11 - ????

Hmm, maybe instead of the Bible Belt they should call it the Football Belt. Even funnier, the following Monday (after the Bears lost to the Colts), there was another quote from legendary Bears coach Mike Ditka:

Success isn't permanent;
failure isn't fatal.

Luckily, neither is football season! Cheers,

Layla :)