Where is Soonerman? Why he on the sidelines in the first place?

[SoonerShark]

Where is the guy who dressed up oddly and called himself Soonerman at the basketball games? Why he on the sidelines in the first place? Why is he gone?

[Soonerus]

He was determined to be a fraud when he failed to know what "Sooner" meant...and was exiled to Stillwater...

[btk108]

questionable practices professionally...I'm sure OU wanted to distance the university

[w0lfe]

Been wondering the same thing myself

[I Am Right]

Something about investor fraud

[badger]

EDIT: All the questions and answers you are in this thread here:
Link (http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101477)

[Breadburner]

Guy was a band wagon doosh....

[SoonerShark]

Thank you. I was at the basketball game last Monday and just remembered that I had not seen the guy in a while. At least he was hanging out with college students at public events and was not at a grade school fence during kids' playground time.

[StoopTroup]

I know some folks have an opinion about everyone....I think he is explained here in this article very well. If he did something in his personal life....I hope he gets that straightened out.


STAR SOONER

By Hailey Branson • The Oklahoma Daily

Most fans throw on an OU shirt and jeans to wear to OU basketball games. When they enter, they just blend in with the crowd.

Jeff Braggs wears a tail and spends more than two hours getting his face painted. When he enters, the crowd explodes.

Braggs has been Sooner Man for seven years. His job, he said, is to get fans loud and rowdy. He does so by leading cheers, dancing, jumping and throwing items with his Sooner Man emblem into the crowd.

“That’s the idea,” he said, “to get everyone cheering really loudly and get them to have a good time instead of just sitting there saying, ‘Hmm, I think the players are playing quite good.’”

Sooner Man “got his gig” through his son, Jeff Jr., a senior at Putnam City High School, who accompanies him to most games as sidekick Boomer Boy.

Sooner Man went to all of the OU basketball camps his son attended, and, at one of the father-son camps, former men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson made the comment that started the tradition.

“He said to me, ‘All of the fans sit on their hands at the games,’” Sooner Man said. “I told him that I had been a season ticket holder for years and that, if he let me on the court, I would be the loudest fan in the gym.”

Within days, a member of the Sooner Club called and asked where he wanted to sit. He told them he would prefer to stand. Now, he stands with the Ruf-Neks and Lil Sises on the baseline for every home game.

“The students are kind enough to let me sit in the big, fat middle with them, and it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “It makes (Boomer Boy and I) feel like part of the game. We’re just thrilled to be that close. We have withdrawals when basketball season is over.”

Sooner Man said he thinks he may stick out a little bit. Kids, he added, follow him around like he is a cartoon character.

For every game, Sooner Man wears a different outfit. He mixes and matches out of an enormous wardrobe set up in his garage consisting of hats, wigs, pins, jackets, capes and, most recently, tails.

“I wear a tail to every game now because I’m wild about the Sooners,” he explained. “The first time I wore it, I got more comments about it than my make-up. My alter ego, Jeff Braggs, does not have a tail, but Sooner Man does. My favorite is the big, long, fluffy white one.”

Sooner Man’s face makeup also changes every game. His wife, Brenda, spends hours applying each new pattern. Sooner Man wears stage makeup, which was recommended by some of his real-life patients who are clowns.

“It doesn’t always come out,” he said. “Sometimes I have a pink tint to my beard.”

Sooner Man does go out in public dressed up, but people do not say hi to him, he said. They either look at him twice and say, “Hey, you’re that guy!” or come up to him and ask how the season is going.

When people ask about the season, Sooner Man said he is always positive.

“I don’t down other teams, I just support ours,” he said. “I’m not a mascot, I’m a fan. I’m just happy to see the games. I don’t die with each loss; I just say it was fun to watch. There will always be another game. There will always be other years.”

Sooner Man said that, though he did not attend OU, he grew up as a Sooner fan. He was never able to attend games, but now that he can, he loves it.

“I am a Sooner 365 days a year,” he said. “I’m just able to be an active Sooner certain seasons (and try to) contribute in my own small way.”

[Sooner Eclipse]

He lives(ed) near my parents. His house seems to be deserted and haven't seen vehicles in his drive in a while. Especially that gawd awful old lincoln w the bumper stickers all over it. Prison maybe?