chad
10/8/2008, 10:52 PM
http://soonersports.com/trads/what-is-a-sooner.html
College sports fans are hard-pressed to find a nickname that is as unique and as linked to a state's history as a Sooner. The University of Oklahoma is the only school known as Sooners.
The origins of Oklahoma's nickname stretch back to the Civil War era. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided that a legal settler could claim 160 acres of public land, and those who lived on and improved the claim for five years could receive title.
"Boomers" were settlers who favored the opening of unassigned lands in the Oklahoma Territory. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed the Unassigned Lands open for settlement.
At high noon on April 22, 1889, legal aspirants would be able to enter the Oklahoma Territory and choose 160 acres of land. The event soon became known as the "Oklahoma Land Run" or "Land Run of 1889". Settlers from across the globe, seeking free land, made their way to Oklahoma Territory to stake their claim to a new life.
The great dramatic moment came when, at the stroke of noon, starting signals were given at the many points of entry. In some instances it was given by a blue-clad military officer firing his pistol or by his trumpeter, at times by a citizen firing his rifle in the air, or, as at Fort Reno, by the boom of a cannon. All produced the same results -- a tumultuous avalanche of wagons and horsemen surging forward all in one breathtaking instant.
April 22, 1889, was a day of chaos, excitement, and utter confusion. But it was nonetheless a significant day in national history, one that gave birth to new hope for thousands of Americans and became an iconic image in the history of the west.
One of the few rules to claiming a lot of land was that all participants were to start at the same time. Those who went too soon were called "Sooners".
As time went on, "Sooner" came to be a synonym of Progressivism. The Sooner was an "energetic individual who travels ahead of the human procession." He was prosperous, ambitious, competent, a "can-do" individual. And Oklahoma was the Sooner State, the land of opportunity, enterprise and economic expansion, very much in the Progressive spirit that engulfed the old South in the 1920s.
OU athletics teams were called Rough Riders or Boomers for 10 years before the current Sooner nickname emerged in 1908. The university actually derived the name from a pep club called 'The Sooner Rooters.'
Today, the thunderous chants of "Boomer! Sooner!" roll across the Oklahoma landscape. The success of University of Oklahoma athletics teams over the years has made the nickname synonymous with winning.
I am tired of every year hearing ESPN, ABC or whoever is carrying the game, ask a handfull of OU 'fans' what a "Sooner" is and only 1 of the 10 knowing his/her history. Leaving 9/10 to look like fools and make the OU fanbase look bad.
When someone says to you, 'A Sooner is just another name for a cheater.' Now you have ammunition to fight back with knowledge about our great state and program.
Learn what it means, educate others in what it means, and most of all take Pride in what it means to be a Sooner!
Boomer Sooner!
Hook 'em
College sports fans are hard-pressed to find a nickname that is as unique and as linked to a state's history as a Sooner. The University of Oklahoma is the only school known as Sooners.
The origins of Oklahoma's nickname stretch back to the Civil War era. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided that a legal settler could claim 160 acres of public land, and those who lived on and improved the claim for five years could receive title.
"Boomers" were settlers who favored the opening of unassigned lands in the Oklahoma Territory. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed the Unassigned Lands open for settlement.
At high noon on April 22, 1889, legal aspirants would be able to enter the Oklahoma Territory and choose 160 acres of land. The event soon became known as the "Oklahoma Land Run" or "Land Run of 1889". Settlers from across the globe, seeking free land, made their way to Oklahoma Territory to stake their claim to a new life.
The great dramatic moment came when, at the stroke of noon, starting signals were given at the many points of entry. In some instances it was given by a blue-clad military officer firing his pistol or by his trumpeter, at times by a citizen firing his rifle in the air, or, as at Fort Reno, by the boom of a cannon. All produced the same results -- a tumultuous avalanche of wagons and horsemen surging forward all in one breathtaking instant.
April 22, 1889, was a day of chaos, excitement, and utter confusion. But it was nonetheless a significant day in national history, one that gave birth to new hope for thousands of Americans and became an iconic image in the history of the west.
One of the few rules to claiming a lot of land was that all participants were to start at the same time. Those who went too soon were called "Sooners".
As time went on, "Sooner" came to be a synonym of Progressivism. The Sooner was an "energetic individual who travels ahead of the human procession." He was prosperous, ambitious, competent, a "can-do" individual. And Oklahoma was the Sooner State, the land of opportunity, enterprise and economic expansion, very much in the Progressive spirit that engulfed the old South in the 1920s.
OU athletics teams were called Rough Riders or Boomers for 10 years before the current Sooner nickname emerged in 1908. The university actually derived the name from a pep club called 'The Sooner Rooters.'
Today, the thunderous chants of "Boomer! Sooner!" roll across the Oklahoma landscape. The success of University of Oklahoma athletics teams over the years has made the nickname synonymous with winning.
I am tired of every year hearing ESPN, ABC or whoever is carrying the game, ask a handfull of OU 'fans' what a "Sooner" is and only 1 of the 10 knowing his/her history. Leaving 9/10 to look like fools and make the OU fanbase look bad.
When someone says to you, 'A Sooner is just another name for a cheater.' Now you have ammunition to fight back with knowledge about our great state and program.
Learn what it means, educate others in what it means, and most of all take Pride in what it means to be a Sooner!
Boomer Sooner!
Hook 'em