1972-2005

[Sooner24]

I think I will go year by year and pick a favorite game that I attended in that year. I didn't attend my first true away game until 1981 so for the first nine seasons my favorite game will be either a home game or a Texas game. I will do a game every few days leading up to the start of the 2006 season.


1972

My first pick is going to be the first game of the season against Utah State. I know Utah State doesn't sound like much of a game to pick for a favorite but to me it was the beginning of a journey. A journey that was a little rocky in the 90's but then I guess all rides aren't smooth. A journey that has had way more highs then lows. I was 17 and this was the first year we got season tickets. Just to give you an Idea of how much things have changed, the first year we had season tickets the price of a ticket booklet with tickets for all six home games was $36.00. Each ticket was priced at $6.00 regardless who the opponent was. In comparison the OU/Texas ticket last year was $85.00 by itself. We had two seats and the total was $75.00 shipping and all.

For all you youngsters out there that think I-35 has been there forever, well it hasn't. The Interstate from the Texas line to Purcell didn't open up until late 1970 the year before I got my drivers license and I am sure glad it did. It used to take forever to get to Norman when Hwy 77 was the only road north and I am not sure if we would have gotten tickets if Hwy 77 was the only way to get to Norman. My dad told my brother and me he was going to let me drive up to the game and be careful. I was a little nervous and didn't know where to park or anything else for that matter. I had only been to two other OU games, 1969 Kansas game and the 1971 Kansas game. I called Sooner04's uncle who was going to school at OU at the time and ask him where would be a good place to park. He said don't go to Lindsey Street but get off on Hwy 9 and take it to Chautauqua, then right on Timberdale and I could park at the corner of Timberdale and Asp. I parked there for many years until I joined the Touchdown Club and parked on the practice field, next to the stadium for many years.

We get to the stadium and go inside as soon as the gates opened. Back in those days all the games started at 1:30 with the rare exception when you were on TV. The gates opened at 12:00 and my brother and I were in our seats just after that. Section 17 Row 63 Seats 29-30. There was an older couple that sat behind us for years named the Allen’s. I guess when you are 17 everybody is old so I would guess they were in their 50's. She was the sweetest lady and we had a lot of great people sat around us.

As for the game itself it might as well have been for the National Championship as far as I was concern. Even though in the grand scheme of things it really wasn't that important a game, just because of how excited I was to be there and too know I would be getting to go to a lot of games that season. Little did I know at the time that a lot of games was going to be 196 home games in a row and going. I figured my dad and someone else might go to one of the games and I would miss one but I always managed to go either with my dad, brother, best friend Mel or sometimes my uncle.

After the game a car in front of me leaving the parking lot hit another car and neither person even got out to look at the damage. I was more nervous getting out then I was getting there.

That pretty much does it for 1972 and I will do 1973 later in the week. 1973 has several games that will rank as a favorite for that year just because it includes Nebraska and my first Texas game but I will pick just one game.

[SeattleOUstudent]

See...I think I should know you.

[Flagstaffsooner]

What were doing the Thanksgiving before '72? I was in the stands calling the idots wiith N's on their red cowboy hats f'n hillbillies.;)

[Sooner24]

What were doing the Thanksgiving before '72? I was in the stands calling the idots wiith N's on their red cowboy hats f'n hillbillies.;)



My dad being the frugal person that he was said "I will not pay to go to a football game that I can watch for free on TV". :(

[Flagstaffsooner]

Sorry, you missed a good one.

[Sooner24]

Sorry, you missed a good one.


Really? How did it turn out? :confused: ;)

[soonerhubs]

I thought this was an epitaph or something when I read the title. Which one of these smileys shows an expression of relief? :O :O

[OUstud]

I haven't missed a home game since 1999...if that makes anyone impressed :).

[Sooner24]

I haven't missed a home game since 1999...if that makes anyone impressed :).


Everyone has to start somewhere.

[Sooner24]

1973

If it weren't for 1974 and 2000 this would be my favorite year.

What other team has started three brothers on the same defensive line. Watch out world you are about to get Selmonized. :D For all the great players on this team I just want to point out one guy that I felt never got the recognition he deserved. Rod Shoate got all the ink that year but David Smith was just as good a linebacker as Shoate.

Boy how do I go about picking a favorite game out of this bunch? Easy, my very first OU/Texas game. Excited does not even begin to explain how I felt. That was one of the longest weeks of my life waiting for Saturday to come. I had Christmases come quicker when I was six years old then that Saturday did. But come it did and oh what a game it was. My best friend and I got up early and drove down to go to the fair to ride some rides prior to the game. We got there several hours before the game and I had my first Fletchers Corn dog and Orange Julius that day. We went inside the stadium as soon as it opened and watched the teams warm up. Little did I know how bad we were going to kick Texas. We sat in the south end zone and I was amazed how half the stadium cheered on every play. I'm sure most of you know the final score was 52-13 but it seemed like we would never stop scoring. About midway through the forth quarter this man, women and two kids, setting several rows in front of us, got up to leave. I was on the aisle and jumped up, pointed at them and yelled “A real fan doesn't leave until the game is over". Everyone around started cheering when I yelled that and they sheepishly went back to their seats until the game was over. The really sad thing about this game was I thought all OU/Texas games were like this and would all be that easy. Boy was I proven wrong over the years. On a side note this was my best friends’ third OU/Texas game in a row starting with the 1971 game and he hasn't missed one since 1971-2005.

I just want to mention the Nebraska game from this year. If not for the Texas game being my first this would have been the game for 1973. The last time all three Selmons would line up shoulder to shoulder at home. The Sooners so dominated the Cornhuskers that day they never snapped the ball on the OU side of the fifty. That 1973 team may have been the best OU defense ever. Having almost everyone coming back I couldn't wait for 1974 to roll around and boy was I not disappointed.

[swardboy]

I thought this was an epitaph or something when I read the title. Which one of these smileys shows an expression of relief? :O :O

spek

[TheUnnamedSooner]

1973

If it weren't for 1974 and 2000 this would be my favorite year.


Those danged Natl Championship years really ruins it huh? ;)

[Sooner24]

Kinda. :D

[Sooner24]

1974


After coming so close to an undefeated season in 1973 and with almost everyone coming back I couldn’t wait for the season to start. The season didn’t exactly start with a bang. Baylor scraped and fought all afternoon and I started to wonder if this was going to be the year after all. The Texas game was much closer then it should have been and if not for the fact a freshman running back for Texas fumbled at midfield, we might have lost. A few years later that running back would become Texas first Heisman Trophy winner, Earl Campbell.

As far as a favorite game from 1974 it was close between two games. Funny thing is that neither game was the Texas game.

The runner-up game has to be Missouri. It rained the whole game but two things happened in that game I will never forget. The first was the hardest hit I have ever seen in a college game. The hit was made by Scott Hill on a Missouri player returning a kickoff. He came down the field full speed and just wiped the guy out. It was such a hard hit he knocked the guy out and he couldn’t even get up himself. Kyle Davis the OU center came over and sort of drags him to his feet and walks him off the field patting him on the back all the way to the sidelines. Everyone always talks about Scott Hills hit against Tony Dorsett but this was by far a harder hit then Tony ever got.

The second thing that happened didn’t even occur on the field. I was listening to the game on my transistor radio, (yes I am that old), and had heard that #1 Ohio State had lost to Michigan State 16-13, which meant we would be # 1 if we won the game. Well about five minutes later the PA guy comes on and says “we have a final from the Ohio State game. Ohio State 13…………….Michigan State 15”. Well the crowd goes wild. Chants of “We’re # 1” rocked the stadium. The game itself almost came to a stop because of the noise. Then the PA guy came back on and said “We have a correction on the Ohio State/ Michigan State score”. Well you could have heard a pin drop. I already knew the correct score but thousands didn’t. Then the PA guy slowly say “Ohio State 13…………….Michigan State………………16” Well if there had been a roof on Owen Field it would have been blown off that day. Then again if there had been a roof I wouldn’t have had to sit in the rain all day.

The game that gets the pick as my favorite game of 1974 is the OSU game. This game got picked for several reason but more then anything thing else because it was the last game I ever got to attend with my dad. The next summer he died of a massive heart attack and at the age of 19 I had lost not only my dad but one of my best football buddies. It was my dad that got me interested in OU football. Back in the early 60’s he told me stories of the 50’s Sooners and the 47 game winning streak. The first game I ever remember listening to, with my dad, was the 1965 OU/OSU game. After the game he didn’t talk for a long time and then he said “we should never lose to OSU" and that was all he said.

Okay now to the game itself. The game was played the Saturday after Thanksgiving and two days earlier, on Thanksgiving Day, there had been an ice storm in the OKC/Norman area. When Saturday arrived the roads had cleared but when we got to the stadium all the concrete was covered in a glaze of ice. It was an adventure just getting up to row 63. This is it. The whole season boiled down to this one game. Win and a National Championship was possible. Lose and it’s all over.

OU only led 16-13 starting the fourth quarter but things were about to change. OU scored to make it 23-13 early in the fourth quarter and then what might be my all time favorite play occurred. Joe Washington fields a punt on around the OSU forty-five yard line and the adventure begins. Joe disappeared into a pile of orange jerseys, in front of the OU bench and everyone started to set back down. Then all of a sudden out pops Joe. I am about half seated and leap to my feet, slipping on the ice, and falling into the person in front of me. It dominoed down about six or seven rows one person falling onto the person in front of them. My dad grabbed me pulling me back up all the while I never took my eyes off of Washington. After that it was all down hill as the Sooners ended up rolling OSU, completing its first undefeated season in almost 20 years.

After the game, in the car on the way home, my dad and I talked about what a great year it had been and how we couldn’t wait for the next season to start. Well the next season started but I would never share another game with the person that made me fall in love with the Sooners.

[stoopified]

What were doing the Thanksgiving before '72? I was in the stands calling the idots wiith N's on their red cowboy hats f'n hillbillies.;)Heh,classic.I was only 12 at the time so f'ing was not part of my vocablary ,yet.

[mhackl]

Hey, Sooner24
Great recounts! Its' great to read about games of old.

[Sooner24]

Hey, Sooner24
Great recounts! Its' great to read about games of old.


Thanks. I wasn't sure if anyone was even interested in my little trip down memory lane. :)

[sooner n houston]

Great thread '24, keep it up please!

[Sooner24]

I was going to do 1975 tonight but think I will wait until tomorrow.

[AllAboutThe'O']

Keep 'em comin'. I personally like the '70s flashback and am looking forward to the '80s as well.

[Sooner24]

Well I couldn't sleep so here is 1975.


1975


Boy this year started out looking like we would have a cake walk to back to back titles only to end up being a wild roller coaster ride. With everyone back how could we get beat? The real question is how did we win a National Title? Barry Switzer held all of his star players out of spring drills and I don’t think that helped anything when the season started, and have heard Switzer himself say it was a mistake.

There were several weird things about 1975. One being OU played the first game that I know of on a Friday night. If OU had ever played a game on any day but a Saturday I don’t know about it. When OU went to play the Miami Hurricane it was played on a Friday night and to this day I don’t know why. My future wife and I had gone to eat and OU was up 20-7 at halftime and I thought when we came back from eating it would be 48-7. Boy was I stunned when I turned the radio on and we were only up 20-17. Miami out gained us and from listening to it outplayed us. OU was coming off of big back to back wins over Oregon and Pitt, who was one year away from winning the National Championship, so I had little reason to believe the Miami game would be any different.

The following week is going to be my favorite game of the season pick. Funny how this game, being my favorite game that I saw that year, isn’t because OU destroyed a team that day, but in a lot of way because it came to symbolize the entire season. The OU/Colorado game was not pretty but it was unforgettable. My granddad went to the game with me that week and when it was over everyone in the stadium was drained. OU was up 14-0 and had the ball right before the half but fumbled it away deep in our end of the field letting CU score right before the half. CU tied the game up 14-14 in the second half but OU countered to make it 21-14. Colorado scored to make it 21-20 with less then two minutes to play and everyone just knew Colorado would go for two to try to take the lead and win the game. To our surprise they came out with the kicking team to try to tie it instead. Everyone was yelling to watch for a fake, still not believing they were going to kick the ball. But kick it they did and it was wide right. Of course, with about a minute to play, Colorado tried an onside kick but OU recovered and just ran out the clock, as CU had no time-outs left. Then as Steve Davis took a knee something happened that I had never experienced before at an OU game. There was booing. There were actually people that were upset that we weren’t trying to run something to try to score with a one point lead and less then a minute to play. I for one was just happy to have a win.

I remember reading once where Larry Lacewell had come out of the press box after the game and was walking across the field to the locker room when a lady stopped him all irate and demanded to know why we hadn’t tried to score there at the end. Lacewell told her “Lady we didn’t want to run the score up on them”.

Something else happened that day on the other side of the county that would come back to surprise everyone later in the season. Ohio State killed UCLA in a game which at the time just seemed like Ohio State winning big on its way to a possible National Championship.

Later that year came one of the greatest games in OU history when Little Joe pulled our bacon out of the fire in Columbia. A lot of people think that when Washington scored the touchdown and two point conversion the game was over but Missouri attempted a field goal at the end of the game that would have won it. I was setting in my car listening to the game when Mike Treps said “The kick is up, it’s long enough…..and it’s GOOOOOOOOOOOD” at that point my heart sank. Then he yells “Its NO GOOOOOD……I MEAN IT”S GOOD BECAUSE IT”S NO GOOD!!!!!!!” Boy listening to Mike Treps was sometimes an adventure in itself. If I could pick one OU game that I wish I had been at this might be it. The only other game that would come close, and it would be very close is the 1986 OU/Nebraska game.

Later that year I saw something I had never seen before at an OU football game and that would be a lose. The OU/KU game may be the sloppiest game I have ever seen us play. Funny story right before the game I was talking to Mrs. Allen behind me and said “Boy it sure is hard to get excited about this game with Nebraska coming up”. Was that the kiss of death or what? Talk about booing boy that day there was tons of it. I was truly embarrassed at the way our fans acted that day. When that game was over I thought all hopes of a title were gone.

After playing Missouri and then coming home and dispatching Nebraska we played in the Orange Bowl against Michigan. The only problem was Ohio State was #1 and playing the same UCLA team they had killed earlier in the season. With no reason to think the outcome would be any different and that Ohio State was going to win I watched the Rose Bowl anyway. Funny how things can turn around as UCLA kicked OSU and opened the door for us the claim the title. The Rose Bowl ended right before the Orange Bowl started so everyone knew what was at stake. And the rest, as they say is history.

I will try not to get so verbose from here on out and just do a favorite game story and not a season recap. Well, except for, maybe 2000 since I went to every game that year for the first time.

[Captain Obvious]

my dad still talks about that KU game. nolan cromwell... a little before my time. i was 1! but i'll be with you when you get to 1979...

[fwsooner22]

keep em coming 24

[StoopTroup]

I can't wait to see how the heck you pick a favorite game in 1999-2000.

The Orange Bowl was the topper...but so many great games were played that year. After going 7-5 and losing the Liberty Bowl...we never stood a chance in a bunch of those games going into that season and yet we went 13-0. Truely a great year.

[Sooner24]

I can't wait to see how the heck you pick a favorite game in 1999-2000.

The Orange Bowl was the topper...but so many great games were played that year. After going 7-5 and losing the Liberty Bowl...we never stood a chance in a bunch of those games going into that season and yet we went 13-0. Truely a great year.


It was the Independence Bowl but that's close enough. ;)

[Sooner24]

By the way I already have my favorites games from 1999 & 2000 but that's a ways off.

[StoopTroup]

It was the Independence Bowl but that's close enough. ;)
I was there too.

I knew I got out of bed way to early this morning.

Thanks.

[Sooner24]

1976

This was not a stellar year in OU football but some things happened worth mentioning. Florida State came to town with a new head coach named Bobby Bowden. I wonder if he ever amounted to anything as a coach? I am going to jump right into my favorite game for 1976.

This will be the first “favorite game” that isn’t a win. Then again it wasn’t a lose. Okay you figured it out it’s the OU/Texas game. This was my future wife first OU/Texas game but she really just wanted to see the President of the United States. We left Ardmore early since Gerald Ford was going to cut the ribbon to open the fair. Only problem was this wasn’t even the opening day of the fair. We got there way early and as we drove down I-35 there were people stationed on the overpasses armed with rifles. It was really kind of eerie seeing all of this. We parked at the fair grounds and got right up at the front so we could see the president. He was supposed to be there at 10:00 but he was late. The president of the fair got up and introduced some of the fair board members. The Marine Corp band played a couple of songs then the fair board president got up and said that Ford was running late but was on his way. At this point some guy in the crowd yells “tell an Aggie joke”. The crowd erupted in laughter and the fair president said he better not. The Marine band played a couple more songs and at this point the fair board president gets up and says “Did you here the one about the Aggie and the….” This brought the house down.
Well Ford finally showed up, talked a while (this being an election year and all) and then finally cuts the ribbon.

We messed around the fair awhile and then went inside the stadium. This is where the infamous “Who are those two *******s with Switzer” line came from as Switzer, Ford and Royal all walked out to midfield for the coin toss. This was also the “spy game” where Royal about had a stroke over us spying on his practices. The game itself wasn’t pretty and we never could generate any offense. Finally in the forth quarter down 6-0 we got the ball on a fumble recovery and put together the only drive we had all day. After we scored with less then two minutes to go I was sure we had victory in our grasp. WRONG! The snap on the PAT was high and we never got the kick off. I was hoping we would try an onside kick but didn’t. Everyone left the stadium feeling like they had lost.

It’s kind of funny how the season went after that. We lost to OSU and Colorado but beat Nebraska and still ended up in a three way tie for the conference title.

One quick story about the OSU game. My granddad went to the game with me and we left really early to go have lunch with my brother, who was attending OU at the time. This was back in the CB radio days and I had one in my car. Up just south of Purcell everyone started yelling for all northbound traffic to watch out because there was someone going the wrong way on the interstate. Sure enough here comes this old lady driving the wrong way down I-35. She was yelling and pointing at all the cars that were veering off the road to get away from her. After all that excitement I started pounding on the steering wheel and my granddad ask what was wrong. It was because I just realized I had left the tickets in Ardmore.

Around we go and start back to Ardmore. Needless to say I exceeded the speed limit going back to Ardmore. Tickets in hand and off we go back to Norman. I had called my brother from the house to let him know what had happened and we wouldn’t have time to meet up with him. We got to the parking lot right before the game started and headed for the stadium. We had just gotten in our seats and had just sat down when Terry Miller took off down the sidelines for a touchdown. Boy that was a rotten day. That sure wasn’t my favorite game for 1976.

[Sooner24]

1977

This year had to be better then 1976 and it was. Some games were closer then they should have been (Vanderbilt) but this was also the year of one of the most famous games in OU history. I said earlier that the 75 Missouri game and the 86 Nebraska games were ones that I really wish I had been able to attend in person. Well when I said that I had forgotten the Ohio State game of 77. I watched the game with my friend Mel and at halftime he predicted the final score and nailed it. Enough about the Woody Hayes game as I wasn’t there so onto my favorite game I attended in 1977.

The Nebraska game was always the one game every year I was afraid we would lose. They would always start off the season just killing everyone and I was afraid we would be one of them. So go figure then from 72-77 we won every time. Not that we should have won all of those games but we did.

The weather that day was one of the best November days I had seen at an OU game and the Sooners won pretty convincingly over the Cornhuskers. Really the only thing that stands out about this game was how many oranges rained down on the field after every score and the fact if we win we are the Big 8 Champions and go to Miami to play in the Orange Bowl. OU scored a bunch of points that day and the game really wasn’t close so there were times both end zones were completely covered in oranges.

The way the other bowl games worked out that New Years Day we had a chance to win another National Championship if we beat Arkansas. Boy did that not happen. I never saw it coming and I guess most other Sooner fans didn’t either. I’m sure most people have heard the Larry Lacewell thing but who knows if that is true or not? Regardless we lost and in doing so our chance to claim another title.

[Sooner24]

1978

The best OU team I ever saw not to win a National Title. I have debated this team as being the best, against the 86 team, but I have Heard Barry Switzer say 78 was the best and I agree.

This team was so much fun to watch with Thomas Lott, Billy Sims, Kenny King, Victor Hicks and David Overstreet running the offense. There were some close games like Stanford and the heart stopper against Kansas but if we don’t turn the ball over nobody plays us close and we win them all. Problem is we did turn the ball over, got played close and didn’t win them all.

After worrying about beating Nebraska from 72-77 this was the year I was sure we were going to win. Wrong again. Turnovers did us in that day in Lincoln and cost us a NC.

My favorite game attended in 1978 is the OSU game. It was a favorite game not just because of the game itself but what happened that day. As far as the game itself Billy Sims clinched the Heisman that day and OU rolled OSU but the real excitement was what was going on in Lincoln, Nebraska and what happened after the game. The Cornhusker fans went from total ecstasy the week before, finally getting Tom Osborne his first victory against OU, to losing to an unranked Missouri team and having to face us in an Orange Bowl rematch.

My wife had gone to the game with me and after the game we headed to the car. My wife has no real interest in college football, although she loves men’s and women’s college basketball. We walked to the car and started home still not having a clue where OU was going bowling. They came out of a commercial and said they were in the OU locker room and getting ready to announce where OU was playing. I pulled the car over and parked, turning the radio up. When they announced we were playing Nebraska I started hooping and hollering (notice the redneck lingo). My wife said “what’s the big deal OU plays Nebraska every year”. And I said “but not in the Orange Bowl they don’t”. I drove home with a huge smile on my face and I am smiling right now thinking about it again.

http://www.jimsoklahomasportspage.com/videos/theface.wmv

The Orange Bowl was not nearly as close as the final score as Nebraska scored on the last play of the game against our second team defense to make the final score respectable.

The 1978 season was a great year minus one fumble on the three yard line.

[birddog]

2000 against a&m. i got tickets thru the a&m office and they were trying to break a noise record and put us in folding chairs on the track 10 feet behind the ou bench. i had to stand on my chair because i'm a little fella and when torrance ran back the interception i lost my balance on the chair and fell into this loud mouth a&m lady and she fell to the ground. i didn't think i was gonna get out of there alive. i'd like to take credit for the tko but it was an accident. no one else thought so. then i ran on the field afterwards and spanked q on his left butt cheek. that dude was smaller than me (i'm 5'8) and he had his helmet on. by far the best game i've ever seen.

[Sooner24]

2000 against a&m. i got tickets thru the a&m office and they were trying to break a noise record and put us in folding chairs on the track 10 feet behind the ou bench. i had to stand on my chair because i'm a little fella and when torrance ran back the interception i lost my balance on the chair and fell into this loud mouth a&m lady and she fell to the ground. i didn't think i was gonna get out of there alive. i'd like to take credit for the tko but it was an accident. no one else thought so. then i ran on the field afterwards and spanked q on his left butt cheek. that dude was smaller than me (i'm 5'8) and he had his helmet on. by far the best game i've ever seen.


We aren't anywhere close to 2000 yet. I still have a couple of decades to go. ;)

[birddog]

i figured i'd get mine out of the way. you may now carry on unfettered.

[Sooner24]

1979


This was another one of those years we could have won a National Championship but for one game. The only lose of the season was to Texas and I will mention this game only for the simple reason it was the only OU/Texas game my granddad ever attended. We got there early and did some state fair stuff, corny dogs, etc.

They used to have gondola ride that would take you from one end of the fair grounds to the other, and we had ridden it many times in the past but not this day. Strange thing as we were going to the stadium there were some teenage kids in one of the gondolas and while it was stopped taking on passengers, they were rocking this thing back and forth big time. They were probably fifty or sixty feet in the air and my granddad said, “Those idiots are going to cause that thing to come off that cable and crash if they don’t stop.”
Well it wasn’t that day but instead the last day of the fair and that very thing happened. I don’t remember how many people got killed but that was the end of that ride at the fair. The next year all that was left was the stations where you got on and off and some of the towers that hadn’t been taken down.

Now on to my favorite game of 1979.

This one was easy. It’s the Nebraska game hands down. A cold, gray, overcast day in November. What better setting for Billy Sims last game at home and he sure didn’t disappoint. The week before against Missouri Billy had rushed for well over 200 yards and this Saturday would be no different. If not for a bogus clip call on Freddie Nixon Billy might have had over 300 yards that day. Early in the third quarter Forrest Valora sped unguarded down field and J. C. Watts hit him in full stride for a TD. He was so wide open I always said it looked like he went out early for practice on that play. This is also the game where Nebraska ran the Fumble Rooskie play for a touchdown. What a lot of people don’t realize is it wasn’t the first time in the game they ran it. It was just the first time it worked. They had run it earlier in the game and I just thought it was a fumble, when I saw the ball on the ground. My best friend’s brother said “They just tried to run a guard around play.” I said “are you sure” and he said “I’m positive.” Later in the game they ran it for a TD and the late Mike Babb got crushed. After the game Barry Switzer runs out and leaps into Billy’s arms. That was one of my all time favorite games.

One more thing about the 1979 season. Most of the Heisman ballots had already been mailed in before Billy’s last two games, in which he rushed for over 500 yards. If the voters had waited until after our last two games Billy would be the second back to back winner.

[Sooner24]

1980

New decade and with two National Championships in the 70’s no reason not to have high hopes in the 80’s.

One of the big games in 1980 was the Stanford game. Stanford had already lost a game and stood at 2-1 when they came to Norman so I wasn’t too concerned even though they had John Elway. The next part of this I posted in another thread about the Stanford game.

We left Ardmore and it was pouring down rain. We get to Norman and it's pouring down rain. We go to the stadium and it's pouring down rain. (See where I am going with this?) Anyway we get inside set down and right before the game starts they come over the PA and say tag # so-and-so has left their lights on. I jokingly say to the guy with me "hey run back to the car and make sure I turned my lights off".

After sitting in the rain and watching Elway pick us apart all afternoon, we get back to the car only to find out I really did leave my lights on.

I got out opened the hood and the next car by stopped and ask if I needed a jump. I could not believe anyone would stop as no one was in a very good mood. Car started and we drove all the way back home in, you guessed it, the rain.

I loved Bobby Proctor but it sure seemed like the passing teams just ate our lunch. In his defense that day we couldn't keep our feet because of the wet turf but I really doubt it would have made any difference.

Now my favorite game of 1980 was the North Carolina game. The Tarheels came in undefeated and I believe ranked 5th in the nation. Famous Amos Lawrence and Lawrence (LT) Taylor were coming to town. Boy was it a bad day to be wearing blue. We dominated them so bad it wasn’t funny. One thing that made this game sort of unusual was the fact we played them in the middle of the conference season. I don’t recall ever doing that before.

When you stop and think that I got to see Elway and LT play in Norman in the same year it is pretty amazing. There may never have been another season where players from two different teams came to Norman and ended up possibly the great offensive and defensive players in NFL history.

[olevetonahill]

Good stuff
thanks

[Sooner24]

Thanks!

I am going to try to do 1981 tonight. If not tonight tomorrow for sure.

[Sooner24]

I planed on being finished doing these before the season started so I better get after it.


1981

This was the start of the worst three year period in Barry Switzers career. Sad thing was there was so much talent on the team, this year and the next two years that we should have had a much better record then we did.

One of the players on this 81 team was Thomas Benson from Ardmore. I would say him and Rafael Denson are the two best players to ever come out of Ardmore. Benson returned punts and played defense with a vengeance at Ardmore. He went 75 miles up the road and seemed lost all the time. Him and Jackie Shipp may have been two of the most gifted backers on the same team but they never seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

After we lost the last second game at USC it was like we never really recovered. The next week we tied Iowa State and then lost to Texas.


My favorite game of 1981 is going to be my first true away game at OSU. The game was played the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it was the hardest time I ever had getting around at a game. On Thanksgiving Day I went deer hunting with my brother-in-law and got home around 11:00. My wife was cooking Thanksgiving dinner and her whole family was coming over around 12:00. I jumped in the shower and was going to put my dirty clothes in the utility room when I ran into the ottoman while turning to watch something that was going on in the football game on TV. Needless to say I broke my toe. I went to the emergency room and the just taped it to the toe next to it, gave me some pain pills and told me to see my doctor on Monday.

The Saturday of the game it rained all the way from Ardmore to Stillwater and rained off and on most of the game. I was on crutches, couldn’t put a shoe on my left foot so I just had a sock on and my foot was soaked, and cold all day. Fortunately we played one of our better games of the year and won 27-3. That was the first time I had ever been to Stillwater and it sure made me appreciate Norman and Memorial Stadium even more.

A little follow up on my toe. On Monday I called my podiatrist in Oklahoma City and he said come on up. When I got there they X-Rayed it and he said it had already started to heal and they were going to have to break it again to get it set! Then he said “Why didn’t you come up on Friday after you broke it and we would have had to have done this?” I figured they were closed so I didn’t call. It hurt 50 times worse when they broke it again then when I broke it the first time.

[Sooner24]

1982

Feeling that 1981 was just a reloading year I was all ready for the 1982 season to start. It was better then 1981 but not what it should have been considering the talent. During and after this season there started to be some heat on Switzer from the media and some of the fans but I was not in that camp.

We lost at home to West Virginia and some guy that looked like a Super Bowl winning QB named Jeff Hostetler and to USC, in a game that featured the first shutout I had ever seen OU endure. This was also the year of my first trip to Nebraska. But my favorite game of 1982 was the Texas game.

I went to the game with my best friend and his family. We always ate at The Southern Kitchen, which sadly is no longer there, after the OU/Texas game and had a 6:00 reservation. Our seats weren’t with theirs so his dad told us “I don’t care what the score is or how much time is left in the game head out of the stadium at 5:30 so we can get there by 6:00.”

During the game some player from Philadelphia, Mississippi took a hand off, faked the reverse, kept the ball and took it to the house. I wonder whatever happened to that guy. The game went back and forth and at 5:30 OU had the ball and a 28-24 lead. We have the ball and are driving but we have a third down and I think about six yards for a first down. If we don’t convert on third down we are going to have to punt the ball back to Texas and they would have one last shot at winning the game. By this time it is 5:40 and this friend of mine and I are already in trouble but we had to see what happened on third down. OU came to the line and Kelly Phelps ran the sweetest naked bootleg I have ever seen. The whole Texas defense bit and he picked up more then enough for a first down. Knowing Texas couldn’t stop the clock we shagged it out of the stadium and to the butt chewing we knew we were going to get but it was well worth it. This game would have to be one of my top five favorite OU/Texas games.

One story about the Nebraska game. We flew up day of the game, bused to the Holiday Inn where they fed us and then to the game. When we landed in Lincoln it was 23 degrees and never got any warmer all day. At the game there were these two old women, just guessing, in their early sixties, who were Nebraska fans setting behind us. All first half they kept saying “What’s so special about Dupree?” Well in the second half he rips off this long TD run and I turned around and said “That’s what’s so special.” Late in the game Nebraska is ahead but we have the ball and are driving when this one old lady said to the other, “Those SOB’s are going to beat us again.” I wish she had been right but it was not to be.

One more note about 1982. What are the odds of playing teams at home, two years in a row that would have players that would be Super Bowl winning QBs in Elway and Hostetler?

[crimson&cream]

my dad still talks about that KU game. nolan cromwell... a little before my time. i was 1! but i'll be with you when you get to 1979...
I was at my Alam Mater NSU FB game that afternoon and when the PA come on with the score there was dead silence in the stadium then groans. Just couldn't believe it.

[BermudaSooner]

Good stuff 24.

[Sooner24]

Thanks!

I need to get busy doing the rest before the season starts. I have been out of town for a while and just got home

[Sooner24]

1983


This year is going to be one of the hardest to find a favorite game. The Ohio State game was a lose. The Missouri game in Columbia was a lose. I didn’t go to Stillwater to witness that game so it’s out. The Nebraska game was a lose but even at that I am going to pick that as my favorite just because Nebraska was suppose to kill us.

I took my wife’s nephew and it was cold and drizzling rain all the way up and continued to do that the whole game. It was one of the rare, at the time, night games but the way the weather was I wish it had been a day game. The game went back and forth and some of you younger people may have seen Spencer Tillman’s 5 yard leap into the end zone. To this day I don’t know how he jumped that far to score. With OU down by 7 with time running out we drove down to the goal line with a chance to tie or win the game. One of our linemen moved and that put us back just outside the five yard line. A couple of incomplete passes later and the Nebraska Cornhusker were off to Miami to lay claim to their third National Title.

The only thing that makes this game, being a lose, one of my favorite was the fact Nebraska had only been played close once all year and not many people were giving us any chance of even hanging with them.

With the triplets of Mike Rozier, Turner Gill and Irving Fryar this team was unbeatable. Or were they?

[PDXsooner]

this is awesome. seeing all the younger fans who have ony been around for the last 15 years makes me wonder if they'll appreciate the 80's sooners that i grew up on. but reading these makes me appreciate the 70's sooner teams that i was never fortunate enough to see. keep 'em coming, this is awesome!!!

[Sooner24]

These recaps are great. You should write them down hard copy for history...seriously.
I heard the OU/corn game on AFN while in Chitose City, Hokkaido, Japan. Must have been a replay because it was about 11PM Sunday nite (they are 13-14 hrs ahead of US central time).
Or, it might have been a Tuesday at 3pm in 1985. Those days are all a blur now. ;)



this is awesome. seeing all the younger fans who have ony been around for the last 15 years makes me wonder if they'll appreciate the 80's sooners that i grew up on. but reading these makes me appreciate the 70's sooner teams that i was never fortunate enough to see. keep 'em coming, this is awesome!!!


Thanks!

I really didn't know if anyone would even be interested in reading any of this.

[Sooner24]

1984

As hard as it was to pick a favorite game for 1983 it was just that easy to pick my favorite game in 1984.

1984 included the infamous Texas tie, from which I am still trying to dry out. I have never been madder after a ball game then I was after this screw job. On Texas last drive we recovered a fumble they didn’t give us, had a phantom pass interference penalty called and then to top it all off the Keith Stanberry interception was ruled out of bounds.

But enough about that because I am getting mad just thinking about it on with my favorite game for 1984.

This year marked my forth true away game and favorite of 1984 Colorado.

The game was played in November and when we planed to go, at the start of the season, we weren’t really sure what kind of weather we would have in store for us. Funny thing it was in the 70’s when we landed in Denver on Friday and mid 70’s for the game on Saturday. With the Rocky Mountains as the back drop it is hard to beat going to a game in Boulder.

OU had the Texas tie and a lose to Kansas going into the game with the lose to Kansas coming when Danny Bradley was injured and a freshman QB by the name of Troy something or other led us to a lose in Lawrence.

We stayed in a hotel that was within walking distance of the stadium and we could see it out the window of our room. Friday evening we got in our rental car and got something to eat and then just messed around Boulder for a while. When we got back to the hotel, a couple of hours later, there were six or seven fire trucks and a couple of police cars all with their lights flashing. We parked the car and started up to the hotel. A police officer ask us if we were staying there and we told him yes and showed him our key. He told us someone had set off the fire alarm on the forth floor and the sprinkler system had come on and had soaked everything on that floor. I sure was glad we were staying on the sixth floor. We got on the elevator to go to our room and I pushed the button for four. When the doors opened there was water everywhere.


The next day we went to the game and heard that Texas had already lost. We stood by the the ramp as the Sooner we waiting to take the field and I told Boz “Hey Texas got beat”. He just grinned at me and shot me an upside down horn.

The game was a complete blow out with OU winning 42-17 and the game wasn’t that close. Lydell Carr had a big game and the defense pretty much had their way with the Buffalos. It was probably just as well too because this was still during the time that they sold beer at the games and it might have gotten ugly if it had been close. As it was there were a lot of people left at half-time and the ones that stayed were awfully quite. I still have never been to game that wasn’t a conference championship that they had vendors going through the stands selling beer. I will be going back to Boulder next year with my youngest son as Boulder is the only Big 12 venue he hasn’t seen OU play.

[Sooner24]

1985


1985 was a strange season in several ways. The home opener was supposed to be September 14 against SMU but ABC asks if we would change the game to December 1 for television. SMU and OU both agreed to move the game. Now a Sept 14th home opener is late anyway but to top it off we had an open week between SMU and our second game of the season at Minnesota. This meant our first game of the year wasn’t until September 28th and our first home game that year was the October 19th home opener against Miami. Can you imagine the reaction if in 2006 our first home game was still two months away?

The next thing that was strange about 1985 was the fact that we were the AP preseason number one team, finished the season ranked number one, but we never played a game the entire season ranked number one. By the time we had played our first game that year several teams had already played three and some four games. We fell out of the number one spot without ever playing a game and fell all the way to tenth after losing to Miami. The only other time we were ranked number one again that season, was after Tennessee beat Miami in the Sugar Bowl and we dispatched Penn State in the Orange Bowl. I have tried to find someone else that may have accomplished this feat but have not been able to do so.

The last thing that made this such a strange year was the fact that Troy got his leg broke in the Miami game and we had to count on a true freshman in Jamelle Holieway to lead us the rest of the year. Funny thing was after the Miami game was over I wasn’t worried about the rest of the season just by the way Holieway handled the offense. He looked like a junior or senior calling the plays.

Now to my favorite game.

This year like 1984 was an easy game to pick and it would be the Nebraska game. Nebraska came into the game ranked number two and if we were going to entertain any thoughts of winning the National Title we had to beat the Cornhuskers. Our defense played lights out and shutout the Bugeatters offense. If not for them stripping the ball and running it all the way back in the closing seconds of the game we would have shut them out. Of course the big play of the day was Keith Jackson taking an end around pitch and going 70 something yards for a touchdown. OU moved the ball up and down the field and Nebraska was never in this game from the start. This was the second most dominating game I have ever seen OU play against Nebraska with the 1973 shutout being the most.

[SteelClip49]

I was not even 2 at the time but us Sooners are damn happy that the Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Miami Hurricanes in the bowl game to have made it possible for the Sooners to win it all.

[westcoast_sooner]

Good stuff - can't wait for the rest of the series.... Keep 'em coming.

[Rufnek76]

My first year as an OU RUFNEK and I got to fly in a private lear jet to Lincoln for the OU/Nebraska game in '76. Cold as you can get...drinking heavily...on the sideline right by the goal line when we threw the hook and ladder and then Peacock in for the score......for the win!!! It even got better...all of the other Rufneks faced a long, long drive but we were back in OKC (where it was warm) in less than 2 hours having a steak dinner and toasting to the great comeback win and tie for the Big 8 Championship! It was COOL!

Your memory is unbelieveable!!!

[Sooner24]

Sorry I have not done any season recaps in a while but I promise to get 86 & 87 up by the end of this weekend.

[Desert Sapper]

1982


We lost at home to West Virginia and some guy that looked like a Super Bowl winning QB named Jeff Hostetler

I was at that game. At the beginning of the second quarter, we were up 14-0. Dad took me to the bathroom, because I just couldn't hold it anymore. We just figured it'd be okay, given that we looked so good starting out (great runs by Steve Sewell and Kelly Phelps)and we didn't want to get stuck behind the halftime line. Besides, I couldn't hold it anymore, remember? Well...seems Mr. Hostetler had some offense of his own, because by the time we got back to our seats, West Virginia was up 20-14. Dad hasn't let me live it down. To this day, he still brings up the 'bathroom break for 20 points'. Sure wish we could have stayed in OK and maintained OUr season tickets. Nothing beats a Saturday spent in Norman.

[Sooner24]

1986


Coming off a National Championship season, with nearly everyone back it looked like we had a shot at number seven if we could just get by Miami. It wasn’t to be.

Before I get into my favorite game that I attended this year I want to say something about my favorite game that I didn’t attend. Not just in 1986 but EVER! This of coarse would be the Nebraska game in Lincoln. OU was down 17-10, with right at five minutes to go in the game and having to go 90 yards to even score. We then, pulled out, in my opinion, the greatest comeback win ever. When we scored to make the score 17-16 Keith Jackson was saying “They have to go for two” but that was not the case since a tie would put us in the Orange Bowl. We kicked the extra point and the crowd in Lincoln erupted in a thunderous course of boos. Then Tom Osborne showed the coaching ability that kept him from having more then three national titles, by running three plays that all stopped the clock and then punting into a monster wind. We get the ball back and with almost no time on the clock, Jamelle Holieway hit Keith Jackson with a pass down the sideline. He gets knocked out of bounds inside the twenty where Tim Lashar nailed the game winning field goal. I have watched the final five minutes of that game so many times it isn’t funny.


Now to my favorite game.


The OU defense in 1973, 1974, 1986 and 2000 were as good as I have ever seen in Norman.


This 1986 group was one of those four. They swarmed people, with The Boz leading the way, and the 1986 Texas game was his showcase. OU came out and completely dominated Texas in every aspect of the game. Few are the times that you can’t wait for the other team to get the ball just so you can watch the defense play. This was one of them. Bosworth was all over the field and Texas didn’t have an answer for him or anyone else on our defense. The offense moved the ball at will and this game was over before it ever got started. Anytime you beat Texas it is a good feeling but this was really special since it would be Bosworth’s last Texas game but he did everything he could to make it one to remember.

[momark]

thanks for sharing that memory , that was a great one thanks again

[Sooner24]

1987

Once again we have a great shot to win a title and no Miami. At least in the regular season anyway. If we had been in any other conference we wouldn’t have had to play them in the Orange Bowl and would have probably stayed #1 with a bowl win but that’s the breaks. If not for Miami we go undefeated three years in a row and are the only team to win back to back to back titles.

This was the saddest season ever for me as a Sooner fan. The fact we lost the Orange Bowl and the national title to Miami felt like a mosquito bite compared to the third degree burn pain I felt in April losing the Final Four championship game to Kansas in basketball. I have never before and will never again experience that kind of pain over any OU sporting event. But that’s basketball and this is football so onto the 1987 season favorite game.

My favorite game of the 1987 season was the first game of the year against North Texas. How in the world, you ask, can that be my favorite game. It’s because it was the first game my oldest son ever attended at the tender age of five. Back in those days the Ruf-Neks had the Sooner Schooner out on the north side of the stadium and for $10 dollars you could have your picture made on the Schooner and they would mail it to you a few days later with the date, opponent and score on the picture. That picture of my son seated on the Schooner is still one of my favorite things I ever got at an OU game. The game itself was lack luster but the memory of having my son at the game with me for the first time makes it the favorite of 1987.

Something else about the 1987 season. The Big 8 screwed us by making us play Nebraska in Lincoln two years in a row. All the other teams in the Big 8 always played OU and Nebraska at home in the same year and they wanted to split it up so that each team could have a marquee draw every year and not two powerhouse teams one year and the rest of the conference in the next. What the conference did, for example, was make us play OSU in Norman in 86 & 87 and they had Nebraska at home both those years. This was done conference wide to get OU in one year and Nebraska the next for the other six teams. WELL WHY HECK DID WE HAVE TO GO TO LINCOLN TWO YEARS IN A ROW WHEN IT WAS THE OTHER SIX TEAMS SCHEDULE THAT THEY WERE TRYING TO FIX??? The OU/Nebraska series should have just continued home and home in those two years but by doing so we missed undefeated OU vs. undefeated Nebraska in what was billed as “The Game of the Century II” The final score was 17-7 but it wasn’t really that close.

One last thing about 1987. If Jamelle Holieway doesn’t tear his leg up in the OSU game we beat Miami, in my opinion, even playing in their backyard.

[King Crimson]

I was at that game. At the beginning of the second quarter, we were up 14-0. Dad took me to the bathroom, because I just couldn't hold it anymore. We just figured it'd be okay, given that we looked so good starting out (great runs by Steve Sewell and Kelly Phelps)and we didn't want to get stuck behind the halftime line. Besides, I couldn't hold it anymore, remember? Well...seems Mr. Hostetler had some offense of his own, because by the time we got back to our seats, West Virginia was up 20-14. Dad hasn't let me live it down. To this day, he still brings up the 'bathroom break for 20 points'. Sure wish we could have stayed in OK and maintained OUr season tickets. Nothing beats a Saturday spent in Norman.

i was at that game too. i remember listening to an interview with Don Nehlan on the car radio driving around with my pops doing his Saturday "errands" before going to the game.

[Sooner24]

1988 will be coming shortly.

[Sooner24]

1988

There was a storm brewing in the distance and it was going to be a rough one to ride out. Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be "The Kings" last year as the coach. Never dreamed that the NCAA was lurking around the corner. Never saw the the next decade of Sooner football being the worst in my lifetime. Boy if there had been an internet back then I can't imagine what it would have been like. Now onto my favorite game of 1988.

The only game that would even come close would be the Texas game. Even though Texas was only 4-7 it was still Texas. If we had beaten Nebraska that would have been it since it was "The Kings" last game to ever coach on Owen Field but it was not to be.

I remember being at work and a friend of mine called and said” turn on your radio" Switzer is getting ready to resign". I turned over and sat in disbelief as everything unfolded. It was my saddest day as an OU football fan.

[Jello Biafra]

I haven't missed a home game since 1999...if that makes anyone impressed :).



i know MY nipples are hard :D

[Sooner24]

1989

Boy this is where it starts getting tough. There are going to be a few years from 89-98 that my favorite game that I attended might just be any game that we won.

Gary Gibbs had been groomed for the head coaching job at OU. He turned down some head coaching job offers to stay at OU. No matter what Gibbs record was at OU he will always be a Sooner and for that I say thanks. As a head coach he left something to be desired.

Frank Solich was the Nebraska Gary Gibbs. He was a former player, spent his assistant coaching years at his alma mater, followed a legend and got run out of town. The difference being Frank Solich won a conference title, took his team to the BCS NC game and did win some big games. Gibbs problem was he only beat Texas once; Nebraska once and never beat Colorado.

With that said hope springs eternal in Sooner Land as the 1989 season kicks off. We won our first two games then go to Arizona where we lost 6-3. We lost to Texas, Colorado and Nebraska so I guess my favorite game of 1989 would be the OSU game.

In 1989 they hadn't started with calling everything ****** yet so it was just the OU/OSU game. It wasn't like this was an exciting game as we led 23-6 at half-time and cruised 37-15. This was the 13th win in a row, over OSU, after losing to the Cowboys in 1976.

Like I said from 89-98 is going to have some years that picking a favorite game attended might be tough.

[Sooner24]

1990

1990 looked to be the silver lining to the storm clouds that had been hanging around.

We started out 5-0 and had not really been tested going into the Texas game. Friday night before the Texas game I get a phone call that my uncle in OKC had died. I call my best friend and told him I was not going to be able to go to the game. Saturday morning my wife and I got up and headed north while the Sooner faithful were headed south to Dallas.

The Texas game should have been a win. This was one of the games that Gibbs let get away. The year before Texas gets the ball and drives down to score on their last possession to win the game. This year we have the ball driving to a game winning field goal. For some unknown reason, with no time outs left, we run the ball up the middle for no gain and then try to rush the field goal team in before the clock ticked down to zero. Lashar comes in and misses the field goal and an opportunity was wasted.

The next week Iowa State came to town. We has not lost to Iowa State since Kennedy was in office but that was about to change. The Iowa state QB that day had just come back from arthroscopic knee surgery and gained, what appeared to be, 500 yards rushing on the QB draw. Iowa State got the ball and drove down on their last possession and we have two loses in a row.

The next week we are off to Boulder for our third lose in a row but the season ended on a high note.

Unlike some of the next few years this one wasn't hard to pick. My favorite game of 1990 was the Nebraska game. I don’t really think a lot of people harbored much hope but we ended up winning the game 45-10. The Nebraska QB, I believe it was Mickey Joseph, was run out of bounds and into the bench opening up a huge gash on his leg and Nebraska was never the same after that.

That was a great way to end 1990 as we were on probation and not eligible for a bowl. We lost three games by scores of 14-13, 33-31 and 32-23. Two of those lose should have been wins but there was still hope that 1991 was going to be even better.

[Sooner24]

Interesting note about the 88-92 seasons. KSU sold us their home game and we ended up playing the Wildcats 5 straight years at home. I have never heard of anyone before or since doing such a thing.

[Sooner24]

1991


Once again the season started with high expectations. Once again things didn’t turn out quit like you would want them. The bad thing is we were saddened by the fact we were going 7-4, 8-4 and in 1991 9-3 with a bowl victory over Virginia. Little did we know that the worst was yet to come.

Four games, four wins, and a number 5 ranking and then it was off to Dallas. Once again a close but no cigar, 10-7 lose, to a Texas team that ended the season 5-6. The following weak it was an embarrassing lose to Colorado at home. Then just like that we rip off four straight wins and look to be headed in the right direction before going to Lincoln for a 19-14 lose. A sound thumping of Virginia in the Gator Bowl looked good and we ended the season 9-3.

My favorite game, that I witnessed, in 1991 was the OSU game. Nothing memorable about the game other then the fact we only led 7-6 going into the fourth quarter. What was really fun was the fact that OSU was a tie away from having a perfect record in 1991. Only a 6-6 tie with Iowa State kept the Cowboys from an 0-11 record. They scored a whopping 106 points in 11 games. What an offensive juggernaut. I don’t remember but they were probably calling this the best offense in the country that year too.

[Sooner24]

1992

Just like 1987 my favorite game is not a close game or a win over a big rival but the first home game of the season.

The season was as bad as it got under Gary Gibbs. A final record of 5-4-2 was sad considering we should have beaten Colorado in Boulder and OSU in Stillwater but it was always shoulda, coulda, woulda under Gibbs.

The Colorado game was won until Kenyon Rasheed fumbled the ball. All we have to do is basically run the clock out and Gibbs scores a victory over the Buffs. Once again the flying fickled finger of fate gave Gibbs the finger. Colorado sends in their backup kicker and he boots a 40-50 yard, I don’t remember exactly how far, knuckleball field goal that tied the game on the last play. If the play before we just interfere with the receiver they don’t complete a pass that put them in field goal range.

Well enough of that on to the favorite game. Arkansas State rolled into town and my then 5 year old youngest son attended his first OU game. By this time the Ruf-Neks didn’t do the Schooner picture deal or I would have gotten his picture made on the Schooner, just like my oldest son in 1987. The final score was 61-0 but that didn’t matter to him. Just going to the game with all the sights, sounds and smells hooked him for life.

In 2006 he attended his first ever OU football game without me. I know it probably didn’t mean anything to him but it was sad on my part thinking that of all the games he had been to I wasn’t there with him as he and a friend traveled to Columbia for the Missouri game. To make matters worse he also went to the OSU game and the Big 12 Championship game without me. I guess all good things must come to an end.

[Sooner24]

1993


1993 was the best team that Gary Gibbs had at OU. We were 9-3 for the season with loses to Colorado and a Kansas State team that was just emerging as a national power for the next decade. I really thought with this team Gibbs had turned the corner and he would be our coach for several years to come. The most impressive lose that a Gary Gibbs team suffered was to Nebraska. Nebraska was undefeated and got hosed in the Orange Bowl that year by the refs or they would have been the National Champions instead of Florida State.

In a bitter cold day in Lincoln OU scored first and held a 7-0 lead through the first quarter. Nebraska tied it in the second quarter and the two teams went into the half tied at 7. No scoring in the third quarter left it 7-7 entering the final period. But early in the fourth stanza Nebraska scored and on the ensuing kickoff recovered a fumble inside the Sooner twenty. One play later and it was 21-7 and pretty much over. The Sooners had more yards rushing, passing and had time of possession but three fumbles lost and 7 penalties did them in. To end the season OU crushed Texas Tech in the Sun Bowl but as far as Gibbs was concerned that was as good as his career was going to get.

Now onto the favorite game I attended.

The OSU game in 1993 started out just like any other OU/OSU game but as it went on you could tell something was really different. Possession after possession was three and out for the Cowboys. It got to where you wanted them to get the ball just to see the dominance of our defense. It wasn’t like they were turning the ball over as they only threw one interception and lost no fumbles that entire day. It was the most total manhandling I have ever seen in any college football game. When the game was over the Cowboys had not earned a single first down and had only gained one due to an OU penalty. So complete was the dominance that OSU only had 31 total yards offense. 33 yards rushing and -2 passing. This was not only my favorite game of 1993 but my favorite OSU game of all time.

Good fun.

[Sooner24]

1994

1994 is about as nondescript a season as I can remember. After a promising 9-3 season the year before this year was terrible. One of the most memorable things that happened at a game in 1994 was the airplane pulling the banner at the Kansas State game. Delta Airlines used to have as their slogan “Delta is ready when you are”. Well along in the second quarter I look up and there is a plane pulling a banner that said “Hey Gibbs, Delta is ready when you are”. I nearly fell out of my seat. Needless to say the writing was on the wall or at least in the air.

To make matters worse we go and play in the Copper Bowl against BYU and get blown away 30-3. Even as bad as the next coach was he wasn’t even able to recruit until after we played in our bowl game setting up back a whole requiting class.

As far as a favorite game in 1994 I guess I will just have to say the 30-13 win against Missouri. It was the last win at home in Gary Gibbs head coaching career. The official attendance at that game was a meagerly 54,463.



As sad as that was the worst was yet to come.


Do I smell alcohol in the air?

[Sooner24]

1995


With much fanfare Howard $chnellenberger was hired as the new Oklahoma head coach. The man that put Miami football on the map. The man that “wasn’t hired to run the wishbone”. The man that treated Al Echsbach like the moron he really is. At least the last one was fun to watch.

Everyone was excited as the first game of the season rolled around. The fans, the team and yes the scalpers. The first game of 1995 was the first time in years I saw people asking more then face value for tickets, and getting it. That was to be short lived.

We started out with three straight wins and ranked in the top ten when ESPN Game Day came to town for the very first time. That night the Colorado Buffalos made us look bad. Really bad. It would be many years before Game Day ventured into Norman but when they did what a day it was.

Before I get to my favorite game I want to mention my least favorite that I possible ever attended home or away. Since I did not go to the Orange Bowl against USC this was by and far the most miserable time I have ever had at a game. That would be the Kansas State game in Manhattan. We got rocked 49-10 by a KSU team that was on the rise and along with their fans ready to take out years of frustration on our team and fans. We were cussed, ridiculed and basically abused, leaving the stadium, and that was by this 80 year old woman that walked by us. Worst road trip I have ever made.

The worst game I have ever attended at home might have been the next week when $chnellenberger turned down several opportunities to kick field goals and we got shutout by OSU. How sad is it when you beat a team and then print bumper stickers that just say 12 on them or make medals for your senior graduates that have 12-0 on it.

Anyway, my favorite game of 1995 would have to be the first game of the season against San Diego State. This game marked the first time both of my boys and I attended a game together. It was not to be the last but it was the first and that made it really special to me. That we won the game 38-22 was of little significance to just being there with my kids.

[Seamus]

My favorite game, that I witnessed, in 1991 was the OSU game. Nothing memorable about the game other then the fact we only led 7-6 going into the fourth quarter. What was really fun was the fact that OSU was a tie away from having a perfect record in 1991. Only a 6-6 tie with Iowa State kept the Cowboys from an 0-11 record. They scored a whopping 106 points in 11 games. What an offensive juggernaut. I don’t remember but they were probably calling this the best offense in the country that year too.


LOL! I'm really enjoying this thread.

[pb4ou]

1990

1990 looked to be the silver lining to the storm clouds that had been hanging around......

My favorite game of 1990 was the Nebraska game. I don’t really think a lot of people harbored much hope but we ended up winning the game 45-10. The Nebraska QB, I believe it was Mickey Joseph, was run out of bounds and into the bench opening up a huge gash on his leg and Nebraska was never the same after that.

I believe it was Gerry Gdowski.

[Sooner24]

I believe you are correct.

[Sooner24]

1996


Well the Big 8 is now the Big 12 and we have the biggest coach in the league. Even though Barry Switzer endorsed him I never felt good about the Blake hire from the start. Maybe it was just the sting of our last coach but you have to give him a chance.

The season started off with four very embarrassing loses to TCU, San Diego State, Tulsa and Kansas. I saw someone ask the other day how we could have lost to a crappy San Diego State team. The answer was we were crappier then they were. In fact we were worse then most of the teams we played that year. In our first four games we gave up an average of 38.5 points a game.

Week five took us to Dallas and of course my favorite game of 1996. For the first time in a long time I went to Dallas with no real enthusiasm. After scores at home like 51-31 and 52-24 there was no real reason to expect anything different.

The game played out about as expected through the first 3 quarters but then the ghost of Bud must have looked down and said enough is enough. Trailing 24-13 in the fourth quarter one of my favorite, non Joe Washington, plays of all time occurred. Jarrail Jackson took a punt at around midfield and run it up the east sideline for a touchdown cutting the lead to 24-19. A two point conversion later and the lead for Texas was only 24-21 with a lot of time still left in the game.

We held the Longhorns on their next possession and drove down to kick a field goal with 4 or 5 minutes to go in the game to tie it at 24. This was the point in the game against Texas that we had give the game away the last several years and the way things had been going this year I had no reason to think things would be different. Boy was I wrong.

With less than two minutes to play we got one of the worst calls I had ever seen. James Allen took a pitch and made, in my opinion, the best run of his Sooner career. When the Longhorns finally stopped him he was on the one yard line having scampered 45 yards or so. But wait, there’s a flag on the play. Holding on Oklahoma 15 yards behind Allen. At this point I am thinking there just went our last best chance to win. As time expired in regulation I had a bad feeling. I think it was just the red beans and rice I had eaten at the food court at the fair earlier in the day.

Texas got the ball first and we held them to a field goal. Then it was the James Allen show. On this day James Allen ran like I saw him run for the Wynnewood Savages in his high school career. Allen touched the ball on every play in OT. Ten yards on first down. Two yards on second down. Three yards on second down. Facing third down and five Allen takes a screen pass and runs it down to the two yard line. On the next play the south half of the Cotton Bowl erupted as Allen took a pitch and plowed into the end zone for an amazing 30-27 win. What a huge first win for John Blake and the Sooners.

With renewed enthusiasm my best friend and I made the trek to Waco the next week only to see the Sooners play more like they had the first four games then the last half in the Cotton Bowl. We held on to win over 28-24 over a fairly bad Baylor team.

With only three wins in 1996 and a 0-5 record at home things didn’t look real rosy going into 1997.

[Sooner24]

1997


1997 started like 1996 ended, with a lose to Northwestern in Chicago. The next week was my favorite game of 1997. It’s sort of sad when your favorite game comes this early in the season meaning that not much good happened the rest of the year.

Syracuse came to town with Donovan McNabb in tow. If not for the fact his mom fed him to much Chunky Soup we might not have won this game. Down 21-17 at halftime and 28-23 at the end of the third quarter the Sooners rallied to take a 36-34 lead while poor Donovan was puking up his toenails on the sideline.

Syracuse got the ball back one last time and drove down into field goal range only to have the attempt block preserving the victory. Fans were going nuts. We were all high fiving thinking this was the start of something good. Sadly we were wrong.

I just wanted to throw in my least favorite game and in my opinion the game that started, if it wasn’t already happening, the end of John Blake.

Lawrence Kansas was beautiful this early October Saturday and hopes for a win were buoyed by the fact we were coming off a victory at home against Louisville. Oklahoma led by Justin Fuentes took a 10-3 lead into halftime and had pretty much controlled the game up to that point even though they only led by 7.

To start the second half Fuentes was on the bench and never took the field again. We all thought he had been injured only to find out later it was just another John Blake mistake by pulling Fuentes. The defense gave up a 99 yard touch down but late in the fourth quarter OU was driving the ball to take the lead and win the game when we had a procedure penalty. We were eating up huge hunks of yardage but instead of going for it on fourth down Blake elected to kick a field goal to tie the game. Instead it was blocked and OU lost 20-17.

Dick Winder and Justin Fuentes could have been the saviors of John Blake but he basically took the ball out of Fuentes hands and control of the offense from Winder. After floundering on offense for pretty much the rest of the season Fuentes and Winder teamed up to show what might have been in 1997 when the Sooners scored 32 points, after only scoring 28 combined in the previous four games, and beat Texas Tech 32-21.

1998 was looking about the same as 1997, gloomy.

[Sooner24]

1998


Despite Dick Winder being fired and Justin Fuentes transferring the year began like 1997 ended with a win. Two wins in a row and on to Ft Worth to take on the Horn Frogs. I didn’t make the TCU game but I have heard there are people that still have not dried out. I was in OKC that evening and listened to the game on the radio. I was away from the radio at the end of the game when OU was trailing 9-0 and figured it was over. My wife and I returned to the car to hear Bob Barry yelling Sooners Win! Sooners Win! I said we have to get back to the motel because I have to see how this happened.

Five of the next six games were loses probably sealing Blakes fate at OU. But wait, what’s this, three of the last four games are wins and that leads me to my favorite game of 1998.

The Texas Tech game was a night game and for the first and only time in my life I was conflicted on whether or not to pull for a Sooner win. I worried that if we won the game John Blake would be granted another year at the helm. Still with all of the conflicted feelings I still pulled for a Sooner victory.

Oklahoma won the game 20-17 despite getting pretty much outplayed. If not for three Tech turnover it might have been another lose. So with the evening coming to an end everyone wondered if John had saved his job or just ended his Sooner coaching career with a victory. It was the latter.

I just want to add a side note. Like Gary Gibbs, John Blake was a Sooner player, assistant coach and our head coach and he will always be a Sooner and for that I thank him.

[pb4ou]

on to Stoops...:D

:pop:

[Sooner24]

on to Stoops...:D

:pop:


I will crank out 1999 tomorrow. Just glad to see someone is interested in my rehashing of Sooner glory. I figured I better get finished with these before Alzheimer’s set in. ;)

[Pricetag]

So with the evening coming to an end everyone wondered if John had saved his job or just ended his Sooner coaching career with a victory. It was the latter.
My work on Sunday mornings was always dead, and we'd bring in the Sunday paper and write funny speech balloons on the pictures. I chose a big color photo of Joe Castiglione shaking hands with John Blake after the Tech win. I wrote a "You're still fired." balloon from Joe C.

[Sooner24]

1999


The 1999 season actually began on December 1st 1998. That was the day that Bob Stoops was hired as our new head coach. December 1st 1998 is a day I will never forget.

From 1996 until 2002 my work took me all over the state of Oklahoma. On this particular day I had to drive from OKC up to Alva to check on a job that was in progress at the phone office there. On my way back to OKC the press conference came on the radio announcing the Bob Stoops era was beginning at OU. As I drove along I wondered if we had made the right hire. I was leery of hiring a defensive guy and trying to win every game with our defense. Not being in any hurry to get back to OKC I just meandered my way back to I-35, stopping in Hennessey to get something to drink, and all the while hearing that there would be “No Excuses”. Boy I hope he is telling the truth.

I turned off of highway 51 onto I-35 and headed south to my motel. Just north of Guthrie my pager went off so I got off the interstate at the Lazy E exit and called home to see why my wife had paged me. She said that I need to get to my brother’s house in Norman that he had had a heart attack. I could hear my youngest son as he got on the phone crying and saying I love you daddy. I told him I loved him too and he said please be careful. I got back on the interstate and had gone about a mile when it dawned on me. If he was alive she would have said I needed to go to the hospital in Norman not to his house. I got on my cell phone and called home. When my wife answered the phone I said Dales dead isn’t he. There was a long pause on the other end and finally she said yes. She told me she didn’t want me to know because she was afraid I would be too upset to drive.

My brother was a sergeant on the Norman police department when he died. They had to have his funeral at the Lloyd Noble Center to accommodate all the people. I did not go to a single OU basketball game in the 1998/1999 season because I couldn’t make myself go to watch a ball game where they had had my brother’s funeral. The 1999/2000 season I only made a couple of games and had to leave once because I just couldn't set there. I now go to as many games today, men’s and women’s, as I always did before and for the most part I don’t think about it. But every now and then I will be watching a game when an eerie sensation will come over me and a tear will come to my eye. Boy, I sure wish they had not had his funeral there.

Yes December 1st 1998 is a day that I will never forget.

I will do the 1999 football season later tonight or tomorrow.

[Sooner24]

1999

The 1999 season began with three pretty impressive wins over some pretty poor teams. It was then off to South Bend and a date with the Fighting Irish. If we had won this game it would have been my favorite game of 1999, but as it was, still one of the best places I have ever watched a football game. The College Football Hall Of Fame was fun and someone even hung a picture of Barry Switzer in the coach’s hall of fame section. Bar none the people in South Bend were the friendliest I have ever encountered at an away game. The older guy that took my oldest sons and my tickets even apologized for the weather. Paul Horning walked right by me and I just stood there, not even taking his picture. The rudest fans were last year but that’s seven years away in the telling.

The next week was the Texas game and my youngest sons first trip to Dallas. When OU went up 17-0 I was sure this was the year but just like the Notre Dame game a huge lack of defense proved to be our undoing and at halftime it was tied 17-17 only to lose 38-28.

The next week was an open week and then Texas A&M came to town. 5-1 and ranked 13th in the country I wasn’t too optimistic about winning this game. But lo and behold this game became my favorite game in 1999. Until 2003 this was the worst we had ever pounded the Aggies. Time after time after time we would line up in “The Ninja” and time after time after time we would pick up huge chunks of yardage. Everyone around us was high-fiveing and going nuts as we continued to just pour it on leading 34-6 at the half. The second half didn’t get any better for RC and Reveille left town with his tail between his legs licking a 51-6 wound.

Just a couple of more things about 1999 before I move on to 2000. This year also marked the first true away game my youngest son when we went to Ames for the ISU game. November 13 and they set a record high that day. It was also a turning point in our offense as Q made his debut as a starter.

All in all 1999 was a breath of fresh air, even though we lost to Mississippi in the Porta-Potty Bowl, after watching the last five years play out like a slow motion car wreak.

Boy I sure hope 2000 is even better. If we can just play some defense we might be pretty good.

[SoonerDood]

Boy I sure hope 2000 is even better. If we can just play some defense we might be pretty good.
heh:D

[Seamus]

I am on the edge of my seat! I love this thread! :pop:

[Sooner24]

I am on the edge of my seat! I love this thread! :pop:


You will have to wait a little bit longer as it will take me a while to do 2000. It was the first time in all the years of attending Sooner football that I attended every game home and away and I will probably do a bit on all 13 games and of coarse my favorite game of 2000. So grab some more :pop: and refill that drink. ;)

[RiddlerOK]

1980

Now my favorite game of 1980 was the North Carolina game. The Tarheels came in undefeated and I believe ranked 5th in the nation. Famous Amos Lawrence and Lawrence (LT) Taylor were coming to town. Boy was it a bad day to be wearing blue. We dominated them so bad it wasn’t funny. One thing that made this game sort of unusual was the fact we played them in the middle of the conference season. I don’t recall ever doing that before.

Didn't the Sooners score three touchdowns off fourth down plays in this game? I agree, this was my favorite game of the regular season, followed by Band Day against Stanford and John Elway.

[Sooner24]

Didn't the Sooners score three touchdowns off fourth down plays in this game? I agree, this was my favorite game of the regular season, followed by Band Day against Stanford and John Elway.


Man, there is no way the 1980 Stanford games makes even my top 100 of favorite games.

[Seamus]

How can a 3-TD loss to stunferd be a favorite game?

[Sooner24]

2000

This season was like a magic carpet ride. Back when the schedule was released I decided, since Kansas State and Texas A&M were the two farthest away games that I was going to go to every game home and away. Little did I dream at the time that would include a trip to Kansas City and a few weeks later a trip to Florida.


UTEP
Gary Nord, while in Oklahoma with Howard $chnellenberger, as an assistant coach said he didn’t think much of the states dental hygiene. After the game was over Gary’s teeth were kicked down his throat and he needed some dental work. Oklahoma scored first and UTEP tied it up 7-7. After that it was all OU in a rout 55-14.


Arkansas State
Another game against a team we should beat handily and that was the case. Oklahoma led 28-7 at the half and cruised to a 45-7 win.


Rice
Ken Hatfield and his Rice Owls brought the wishbone back to Owen Field and only trailed 21-6 at halftime but did not have the horses to stay with the Sooners losing 42-14. This had the Sooners at 3-0 and outscoring their opponents 142-35.


Kansas
Conference play began with the Kansas Jayhawks. Now we are going to find out if this team is for real. Trailing 13-10 at the end of the first quarter OU took a 24-16 lead into the locker room. 10 more points in the third stanza and a goose egg in the fourth had me worried about our upcoming game against the Longhorns.


Texas
Oklahoma was averaging a cool 44 points a game but offense wasn’t the problem the year before in Dallas as Oklahoma choked away a 17 point lead and eventually lost. Texas had not done their part losing to Stanford keeping this from being a battle of the unbeatens. Records aside this was still Oklahoma/Texas.

This day start just like the year before with OU scoring first jumping out to a 7-0 lead. Texas couldn’t move the ball and Heupel and Company got the ball and moved it down the field, scoring again on a Quentin Griffin jaunt from two yards out. Again Texas could not score and gave the ball back to OU. The Sooner offense once again moved down the field and once again a two yard td run by Q made it 21-0.

This was the point, the year prior, that Texas got it in gear and took the lead into the half, never to give it back. Not this year. Oklahoma scored again making it 28-0. At this point the guy in front of us said I want 42 points. I said halftime score or final score, he said halftime. Good call. Rocky Calmus intercepted a Chris Simms pass and took it back for a 35-0 lead and Curtis Fagan scored on an end around and at this point I knew it was over for sure. Texas scored to make it 42-7 at the half but with Q scoring six times on the day it was academic with OU winning 63-14. I think Mack Brown is still apologizing to the Teas fans for this game.


Kansas State
This is my favorite game of 2000 and if I had to pick my favorite game of all time I would be hard pressed not to pick this one.

Now at 5-0 and moving up from preseason number 19 to number 8 in the polls it was time for our first true away game and Manhattan Kansas was the place we were going to do it. Ranked #2 The Wildcats were once again ready to show the Sooners and the world that they were for real.

My youngest son, at the time, was 13 years old and in Jr. High School. He had read where ESPN Game Day was going to be in Manhattan and they were going to try to get the largest crowd ever at an ESPN College Game Day. He wanted to go and see if he could get on TV. The game started at 2:30 so I had just planned on driving up early the day of the game and back after the game. Instead after he got out of school on Friday we head north to Kansas. I had figured to stay in Abilene, Kansas, thinking this would be far enough away from Manhattan that we could find a room for the night. WRONG! We get to Abilene and start looking for a room. I send my son in three different places and he comes out saying they are full. The next place we both went in, the guy at the desk told us we would have to go back to Salina to find a room as Abilene, and all points east, filled up on K-State game weekend.

Undeterred, I get back on I70 and headed…….east. My son just sat there but I could tell he was thinking, dad you are going the wrong way. We arrived at Junction City at about 10:00 and the hunt was on for a room. After three places telling us sorry, and my son getting more and more depressed, our next stop was the Comfort Inn. I sent him in and he was in there for over five minutes. Finally I get out and go in to see what is going on. The lady, behind the counter, asked if I was with him and I said yes. She said we have a room but it is dirty and housekeeping had been called in to clean it. While this is going on another couple came in wearing Sooner garb and ask about a room. The lady told them; sorry they got the last one. A girl in the back overheard her and came our saying I think that room 214 is vacant and clean. The other lady said I show it occupied. The girl said hold on and took off up the stairs. She returned in a minute and said it was indeed unoccupied and clean. We got the clean room and the other couple had to wait. We got our bag out of the car went in and got ready for bed. The room was dark and as my son laid in the other bed I ask did you think I had screwed up when I didn’t go back to Salina and his reply was, Dad I thought you had screwed up big time.

The next morning we got up and I discovered, in our rush to get out of town, I had not packed my tooth brush. We headed to Wal-Mart in JC and I bought a tooth brush and a bottle of water and brushed my teeth in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

We arrived in Manhattan and got there early enough we parked on a side street and headed to the stadium. The only people they would let in for Game Day were people with tickets. I had bought two KSU donor tickets off of eBay (this was my first eBay transaction) for $82 dollars three weeks before so we already had our tickets. The gates opened at 9:00 for Game Day. My son wanted to get in the section with all the K-State students and I told him he would never get on TV there. He didn’t believe me and so we ended up amongst thousands of K-State students. After Game Day started he figured out I was right and we moved to the end zone where the OU fans were. Coming out of a commercial he saw himself on the big screen so he knew he had gotten on TV. After Game day was over it was still three and a half hours until kickoff so we headed back out to the car where I took a nap while he played tossed a football around with some other kids.

At about 1:00 we headed to the stadium. As we were walking to the stadium we passed three guys wearing orange jackets with Orange Bowl patches on them and they said hi to my son. He looked at me and said boy would that be something if we made it to the Orange Bowl. ESPN had a stage set up with a live band and we walked over just in time to hear them introduce Lee Corso to the crowd. He took the mike and told the K-State fans that when they won the game today to be classy and act like you had been there before. Boy that ****ed my son off. We made our way into the stadium and being in a donor section we were surrounded by Cat fans. For the most part the people were friendly that set around us on the 25 yard line. The stadium filled and it’s GAMETIME!!!

To be contiued.......................

I will continue the 2000 season with the Kansas State game and the rest of the season next week as I will be out of town for a few days but I will get back on it Tuesday or Wednesday.

[pb4ou]

:pop:

[Sooner24]

Kansas State

With the stands full, the crowd electrified, hundreds of Harleys circling the track and The Wabash Cannonball filling the air, you could tell this was going to be special.

OU scored first on a Tim Duncan field goal and K-State march easily down the field to take a 7-3 lead. On the ensuing kickoff came the play that in my opinion set the tempo for the first half. J.T. Thatcher took the ball and ran it back for what appeared to be a touchdown. He had gone out at the two but Seth Littrell scored on a two yard plunge and OU was to take a lead that they would not surrender the rest of the day. Moving the ball up and down the field and leading 31-14 at the half the Cat fans were getting a little bit down but that would change in the second half.

In the second half came my favorite play of the entire season. About four rows behind us was this K-State fan that had screamed “How do you spell stupid S-T-O-O-P-I-D” over and over. He cussed Stoops all day that is until this play. Faced with 3 and 26 at his own 26 yard line and the 25 second clock running down Heupel called time out. This guy starts going absolutely nuts yelling “What an idiot calling timeout with it 3 and 26. How stupid is that?” and then he added “How do you spell stupid S-T-O-O-P-I-D” I just turned around and looked at the guy and the Cat fan seated next to me said I sure am sorry for the way he is acting and I said don’t be we all have those types of fans.

After the time out OU comes out and Heupel dumps off a little short completion that looked like it was going nowhere. Somebody forgot to tell Antwone Savage that. He juked out four or five guys and ran 76 yards for the scored that put the game out of reach. My son had started to set down but I was yelling he’s going to score and he jumped back up in time to see Savage pop in the open and head for pay dirt. We were jumping and giving each other high fives. I turned around to look at the S-T-O-O-P-I-D guy and he yelled at his wife, “GET YOUR *** UP WE’RE LEAVING” and with that he was never seen again.

The third quarter ended 38-17 and my son said we have it won right dad? I said I don’t know a lot of things can happen in 15 minutes. Little did I know how fast things were going to change?

Starting the second half Beasley threw a 69 yard td pass to cut the lead to 14. OU couldn’t move the ball from their own end of the field setting up a fourth down punt. K-State blocked the punt and ran it back for a touchdown cutting the lead to 7 with over ten minutes to play in the game. My son looked at me and yelled “We’re gonna get beat aren’t we? I could only read his lips as at that moment I experienced the loudest crowd at a football game ever. I have been to Tuscaloosa, South Bend, Lincoln, and Eugene and none of them is even close to the noise level at that moment. I told my son if they come back and win the only thing that will be good is the S-T-O-O-P-I-D guy will have missed it.

OU then took the ball and made a great drive getting a field goal to increase the lead to 41-31. As it was that was the end of the scoring and all the OU fans were going nuts as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

That night as we drove home, after finally getting out of all the traffic, we arrived just north of Hwy 51 as all the OSU traffic was leaving Stoolwater and we were in traffic again. I think all 300 OSU fans hit I-35 about the time we arrived. Getting home the first thing my son did was rewind the tape and sure enough there he was on Game Day.

This game is not only my favorite of 2000 but in the top five favorite games all time. If hard pressed it may be number 1

To be continued......................

[Sooner24]

Nebraska

We had not beaten Nebraska in the last seven tries but we finally had a team that was capable of playing with them. Nebraska was ranked number one and pretty full of themselves when they arrived at Owen Field that beautiful, sunny, October morn. With a week off between the K-State game and the Nebraska game everyone was sky high and that early morning kickoff was electric.

Nebraska jumped out to a 14-0 lead and the electricity was gone. It was not just the fact that they led by two TD’s but the fact it had been so easy. The long faces on the people in our section told the story. It was fun while it lasted. There was a smattering of Husker fans in our section and they were already adding the Sears Trophy to their hardware collection. High fives and pats on the backs all around for the might corn.

Then something strange happened. With Nebraska leading 14-0 at the end of one quarter the Sooners woke up and it was lights out for the Huskers. Early in the second stanza OU scored to cut the lead in half. Next possession Heupel hit Fagan for a TD and just like that it was tied. Nebraska couldn’t move the ball on the next try and was forced to punt. A punt that was blocked and recovered by OU. The Husker defense held and OU was only able to get a field goal out of but it was a lead that the Sooners were to never give up. OU scored once again before the half and took a 24-14 lead into the locker room.

In the second half Sooner Magic wasn’t needed just Sooner defense and there was plenty. The only scoring in the second half came when Derrick Strait picked off an Eric Crouch pass and retuned it for a touchdown. By this time you could hear the crowd all the way to Purcell. This was one of those games that you really don’t want it to end.

But the clock ticked down to 0:00 and the despite the PA guy asking people to stay off the field it wasn’t going to happen on this day. When this game was played I had been to every game from the first game of 1972 and this was the first time I had ever seen the goal post come down in Norman. Hopefully we will never fall to the depths that we did in the 90’s where beating anyone at home is reason to tear down the goal post. On this day however it was pure bliss. As the post fell and the pepper spray flew we sat in the stands and reveled in it all. As the goal post made its way to the north end the PA guy said “okay now what are you going to do with it” to which the fans turned around and went back the other way with it. We stayed for what seemed like hours just watching the celebration below. When we finally exited the stadium it was as wild outside as it had been inside. I saw people crying they were so overcome with joy.

Back to back to back. Red October. Texas, Kansas State and Nebraska. #11, #2, #1. No matter how you said it Oklahoma had just completed one of the most remarkable three games runs in NCAA history and the fun wasn’t over yet as I get ready to head to Waco the next week in the most memorable season I ever saw.

[TheUnnamedSooner]

That brings back memories. Carrying that goal post, my burning face from pepper spray but somewhat numbed from the alocohol. That was one of the funnest and memorable days, the day OU was #1 again!

[Sooner24]

Baylor

It’s off to Waco for game eight. After Texas, Kansas State and Nebraska, Baylor was the breather OU needed before heading to Aggieland.

The weather at the Nebraska game had been perfect. The Baylor game, not so much. It was a steely gray day with low hanging clouds and plenty of dampness in the air. The field was in possibly the worst shape of any Big 12 school I had ever seen. Didn’t matter what shape the field was in as OU took a 42-0 lead into the locker room and Josh Heupel and most of the starters never saw the field the second half. The only score that Baylor had all day was an ill-advised pass by Nate Hybl that was returned for a score. The final score was 56-7 before, what would be the smallest crowd of the year to witness the Sooners play. Now it’s on to College Station where The Gameday crew and Texas A&M await our arrival.

[Pricetag]

Nebraska jumped out to a 14-0 lead and the electricity was gone. It was not just the fact that they led by two TD’s but the fact it had been so easy. The long faces on the people in our section told the story. It was fun while it lasted. There was a smattering of Husker fans in our section and they were already adding the Sears Trophy to their hardware collection. High fives and pats on the backs all around for the might corn.

There were Nebraska fans behind us, and they were pretty fired up. Even when they were up 14-0, though, one of them kept lamenting after an OU offensive play about how many receivers we had open.

[Jdog]

1973

If it weren't for 1974 and 2000 this would be my favorite year.

What other team has started three brothers on the same defensive line. Watch out world you are about to get Selmonized. :D For all the great players on this team I just want to point out one guy that I felt never got the recognition he deserved. Rod Shoate got all the ink that year but David Smith was just as good a linebacker as Shoate.

Boy how do I go about picking a favorite game out of this bunch? Easy, my very first OU/Texas game. Excited does not even begin to explain how I felt. That was one of the longest weeks of my life waiting for Saturday to come. I had Christmases come quicker when I was six years old then that Saturday did. But come it did and oh what a game it was. My best friend and I got up early and drove down to go to the fair to ride some rides prior to the game. We got there several hours before the game and I had my first Fletchers Corn dog and Orange Julius that day. We went inside the stadium as soon as it opened and watched the teams warm up. Little did I know how bad we were going to kick Texas. We sat in the south end zone and I was amazed how half the stadium cheered on every play. I'm sure most of you know the final score was 52-13 but it seemed like we would never stop scoring. About midway through the forth quarter this man, women and two kids, setting several rows in front of us, got up to leave. I was on the aisle and jumped up, pointed at them and yelled “A real fan doesn't leave until the game is over". Everyone around started cheering when I yelled that and they sheepishly went back to their seats until the game was over. The really sad thing about this game was I thought all OU/Texas games were like this and would all be that easy. Boy was I proven wrong over the years. On a side note this was my best friends’ third OU/Texas game in a row starting with the 1971 game and he hasn't missed one since 1971-2005.

I just want to mention the Nebraska game from this year. If not for the Texas game being my first this would have been the game for 1973. The last time all three Selmons would line up shoulder to shoulder at home. The Sooners so dominated the Cornhuskers that day they never snapped the ball on the OU side of the fifty. That 1973 team may have been the best OU defense ever. Having almost everyone coming back I couldn't wait for 1974 to roll around and boy was I not disappointed.

I hate to mention this but I think Farigamo(sic) took one snap past the 50 maybe on a turnover - I think the score was something like 27 - 0.

[GrapevineSooner]

I remember sitting back after the Nebraska game in 2000 thinking the dark days are truly over now. And Oklahoma is back.

IIRC, our offense just took a few series to get rolling like we figured they would. Question was, would the defense figure out how to defend the wishbone.

Boy did they ever figure it out. I wanna say that Nebraska accumulated over half of their yardage in the game on offense on those first two TD drives.

Also worth noting that Jason White came in to kneel down on the final snaps of the game.

[Sooner24]

Texas A&M

Before the season started I had bought three tickets for the A&M game so my two boys and I could go. Things at work conspired against me and three weeks before the game was to be played I learned I was going to have to work all night the Friday night before the game. I told my boys there was no way I could work all night and drive down the next morning and back after the game. Much to their disappointment I sold the tickets and told a friend I might ride down with him, his son and two nephews if I got off work on time. He said they were leaving Ardmore at 6:00 and I was welcome to go. I told him if I wasn’t at his house by 5:45 on Saturday morning just go on without me.

I got up at 6:30 on Friday morning and worked until around 6:00 that night. I went home showered and went back to the office at 8:00. At 4:30 in the morning my boss said I could go on so I could go to the game. I went home and flopped down in a chair. My wife heard me come in and got out of bed and said “Don’t set down or you will fall asleep”. I got up showered, dressed and was at my friends at 5:30. I took a pillow so I could sleep going down but with everyone talking I could never get to sleep.

By the time we arrived in College Station I had caught my second wind and set out to find a ticket since I had sold my a few weeks earlier. There were tickets for sell but all the Aggie fans wanted premium prices so I kept looking. I was standing watching the cadets file into the stadium, holding up a one finger when this lady dress in OU gear said “you looking for a ticket”? I said yes and she said ask the lady she was with if she still had that extra ticket. She said she did and ask me if I wanted to buy it. I said how much and she said face value. I jumped on it and went into the stadium.

It was by far one of the worst games we played all year. When Jamar Toombs scored to put A&M up by 10 in the fourth quarter I was feeling like the ride was probably over.

One thing about it, this Sooner team didn’t have any quit in them and when Q scored to cut the lead to three with 7 minutes to go there was a renewed hope. Texas A&M got the ball back and one of the biggest plays of the season occurred when Torrance Marshall intercepted a Mark Farris pass and rode a wave of blocks to the end zone. Our section erupted. The lady I bought the ticket from started hitting me then hugging me. Now most people seem to forget that this wasn’t the end of the game. A&M took the ball and drove it right down the field. On first down Toombs picked three or four yards and left the field. Second down and no Toombs. We all just knew he would be in on third down but still no Toombs. Fourth down still no Toombs and no touchdown.

When the final seconds ticked off the clock it was like New Years in Time Square. Everyone was jumping up and down and hugging. I had told my friend I would just meet them back at the car after the game and as I am walking to the car this A&M fan across the street yells at me “You SOBs won’t beat Nebraska again in the championship game”. To which I yelled back “Nebraska isn’t even going to be in the championship game K-State is”. The he yelled a few rather nasty remarks at me and told his 5 or 6 year old son to come on.

After everyone got back to the car we headed home. We stopped at Chili’s just south of Ft Worth to eat and watched the end of the Nebraska/Kansas State game. I thought back to the A&M fan while watching K-State beat Nebraska in a blizzard in Manhattan. When we finally arrived home it was after midnight and I had been awake for 42 straight hours, but the funny thing was I wasn’t even tired. When I got in bed it was hard to go to sleep.

Well, next up is Texas Tech and one step closer to winning the Big 12 South.

[Sooner24]

Texas Tech

After the A&M game I am starting to figure that I might need to start looking for some Big12 Championship tickets.

The Texas Tech game was up to this point the worst offensive game we played all year. We had four turnovers over 100 yards in penalties and just all around sloppy play. It’s also become apparent that Heupels arm does not appear to be 100%. At halftime we led 14-3 and ended up winning 27-13. During and after the game I have the feeling that we may have used all of our bullets on Texas, Kansas State, Nebraska and A&M.

Regardless we are now 10-0 and headed to Stillwater.

[Sooner24]

Oklahoma State

As my boys and I drove to Stillwater I told them I was more afraid of OSU then I had been Nebraska or Texas A&M. They laughed at me and said we were going to kill them. I pointed out that this was not only their bowl game but maybe the game that saves Bob Simmons job. They still said I was worried about nothing. We got to Stillwater passing and being passed by OU fans flying the car flags that would dot the landscape for months to come. We went to Chili’s for lunch and then parked and walked to the stadium. This was the first time my boys had been to Stillwater to a game and they were amazed that this was a D1 football stadium.

Our seats were on the first row on the south side of the stadium right on the east goal line. Oklahoma took the ball right in front of us and drove 99 yards for a touchdown on its first possession of the game. I thought maybe the boys were right. Turns out the old man was the one that was right. With a 12-0 lead at halftime I was pretty confident we had this game under control. What I had not counted on was Tatum Bell ripping off a 60 yard touchdown run to cut the lead to five. If someone had told me at halftime we wouldn’t score again I would not have believed it but that was what happened.

Late in the game some of the biggest plays of the season occurred. First, on fourth and goal, from the OU 12 yard line, Derrick Strait knocked away what could have been the game winning touchdown. Then after we took over on downs we had a third and 11 from our own 11 with around two minutes to go when Josh Heupel threw a 12 yard completion for a first down and keeping the ball away from OSU. Then on third and 2 Josh ran four yards picking up another first down icing the game.

The OSU fans as we were leaving were quick to let us know that we had no chance going undefeated as we could only beat them by five points. Funny thing my boys and I never said a word and the losers were talking like they had won something. Oh well I guess moral victories are the standard in Stoolwater.

Well, having secured our tickets for the Big 12 Championship game it’s “Kansas City, Kansas City here we come”.

[pb4ou]

:pop:

[Sooner24]

Kansas State
(Big 12 Championship)

11-0.

The first perfect regular season since 1987 and so far I had been to all eleven games. Before the season started, when I decided to go to every game home and away, I never in my wildest dreams planned on being in Kansas City in December.

Saturday morning dawns and my two boys and I load up and headed up I-35. I had made motel reservations in Ottawa so we wouldn’t have to drive all the way back after the game. We got to Ottawa, checked into the motel, put on our cold weather clothing and head for Missouri. We got to KC and got something to eat and then drove over to Krispy Kream and bought a couple of dozen doughnuts to take back home with us because at that time Krispy Kream was still a big deal.

We got to Arrowhead early enough that we didn’t get stuck in any traffic and drove right in and parked. We got out of the car and walked up to the stadium to get t-shirts and programs so we could take them back to the car. It was walking to the stadium I realized that the reasonably friendly fans we had encountered in Manhattan were not the same people we passed, on our way to the stadium, that were tailgating. Most of these people were drunk and yelling stuff at any Sooner fan that passed by. We just ignored them got our stuff went back to the car and waited for it to get closer to game time before going inside the stadium.

Anyone that was at the game knows how butt-hair cold it was but we were bundled up and if the Sooners won it didn’t matter how cold it was.

The Sooners took an early 3-0 lead but K-State intercepted Heupel and scored from in close to make it 7-3. A Wildcat field goal increased the lead to 10-3 but Josh Norman blocked a punt and the Big Red was in business inside the Cats 20 yard line. With a couple of minutes to go in the half Josh found Trent Smith for a TD and it was all tied up going into the half.

The Kansas State fans were as drunk and obnoxious as any fans I had ever been around at a football game. In our section they yelled obscenities at us our any Sooner fan that was in range. I was left to wonder if it was the alcohol or just a different set of fans then the ones my youngest son and I had encountered earlier in the year. At one point I feared this Cat fan and Sooner fan were going to mix it up but nothing ever happened.

The second half started with Josh Heuple leading the Sooners on a long scoring drive to retake the lead 17-0. At this point I want to mention how Trent Smith and Josh just raped Jarrod Cooper. The shorter Cooper, who had cheap shot one of our players going out of bounds in Manhattan, could not cover the taller Smith. The Sooners went to Smith numerous times on this night with great results.

With the score 17-10 the Sooner made a mistake and punted to one of the most dangerous punt return men I had ever seen in Aaron Lockett. He fielded the ball and retuned it for a touchdown evening the score at 17. That was the way the third period ended but the Sooners had the ball and were moving.

The first play of the fourth quarter was one of the highlight plays of the season as OU ran the option to Q who took the ball and dashed for a huge gain and a Sooner first down. This play really seemed to take a lot of wind out of K-State sails as on the next play Josh hit Andre Woolfolk over the middle, who caught the ball in full stride, and raced to the end zone for a lead the Sooners were to never give up. With around a minute and a half to go in the game Tim Duncan kicked the game deciding field goal for a 27-17 lead. With six seconds to go in the game the Wildcats scored but OU recovered the onside kick and the game was over. We left our seats in the upper deck and met up with our friends behind the OU bench to watch the Sooners celebrate their first ever Big 12 Championship.

We stayed until there was nothing else going on and then headed to the car. It was fairly easy getting out of the parking lot as a majority of the Kansas State fans had already exited the parking lot but it was still around twenty minutes before we were back on the road. My oldest son said can I have a doughnut and I said sure. He opened the box and they were frozen solid. A few minutes in the floorboard with the heater going and it was just like the “Fresh Doughnut” sign was on at Krispy Kream.

The next morning we got up grabbed a KC Star in Ottawa, to read about the game, and headed for home. On the way I told my boy that I would love to take them to the Orange Bowl but with packages deals running as high as they were I just couldn’t swing it. I then said I am going to go to complete the season since I had been to every game and they said they understood. They were disappointed then but in a few weeks that would change.

[Sooner24]

I hate to mention this but I think Farigamo(sic) took one snap past the 50 maybe on a turnover - I think the score was something like 27 - 0.


You have the score right.

Late in the third quarter David Humm completed a 33 yard pass that was caught by Larry Mushinskie. He was then hit by Durwood Keeton and Randy Hughes recovered it on the Sooner 33 yard line. The Cornhuskers did advance the ball into the OU side of the field on this play but never snapped the ball there.

[MichiganSooner]

Sooner24, this is one of the best threads I have ever read on this board. About your recollection of the 16-13 Michigan State vs Ohio State game back in the 70's. I remember watching that on regional TV at my dorm while I was in college. And the stories of 2000...WOW! Now, I really can't wait because my first game seeing the Sooners was against North Carolina in 2001.

[Sooner24]

Sooner24, this is one of the best threads I have ever read on this board. About your recollection of the 16-13 Michigan State vs Ohio State game back in the 70's. I remember watching that on regional TV at my dorm while I was in college. And the stories of 2000...WOW! Now, I really can't wait because my first game seeing the Sooners was against North Carolina in 2001.


Sombrero night. http://mods.soccergaming.tv/~iceblu/Ice/biggrinbandit.gif

[Sooner24]

Florida State
(Orange Bowl, BCS National Championship Game)

On the way back from KC I had told my boys that there was no way I could afford to take them to the Orange Bowl. They were disappointed but said they understood. As soon as we got home I got on the computer and started checking out prices for plane tickets to Miami…..for three. We ended up taking one other person so I had to get four tickets. Once I found out for sure the fourth person was going I left work and ran home to book the tickets. In my haste to get the plane tickets booked and back to work I inadvertently booked the return flight at 8:30 PM instead of 8:30 AM on 01/04/2001.

With the plane tickets secured I then booked a motel and a rental car so all that was left was to find some tickets for the game. I did not want to go down several days before the game because I knew I would not enjoy myself thinking about the game so I had booked the flight down on 01/03/2001 the day of the game but early enough that we would be there by 11:00 that morning in plenty of time.

I started searching eBay for three tickets since the person that was going down with us already had his ticket to the game and was going to set with his uncle and his family who had gone down right after Christmas. Every auction on eBay was for two or four seats but not three. After looking for a week for tickets someone suggested that I buy two tickets and then look for a single even though it would mean not setting with my boys. As bad as I hated to do that I went ahead and won an auction with “Buy It Now” on two tickets FOR FACE VALUE!!!! Nearly all the tickets that were being auctioned were from Virginia Tech fans who were sure that Vick was going to have them back in the title game and had bought tons of tickets. I guess Vick was too busy at the dog fights to lead his team to the Orange Bowl.

With two tickets secured I got the bright idea to use eBay as a buying tool and not a selling tool. I made a listing like I had something for sell but instead of selling my listing read I NEED THREE ORANGE BOWL TICKETS. I explained not to bid on this but instead email me if you have three tickets for sell. I listed my email address and ask anyone with three tickets to email me. The first evening, when I got home, I had over 150 emails from people with tickets for sell. The problem was 99.9% were for two or four tickets. All in all I ended up getting over 500 emails from people trying to sell their tickets. A few weeks later, long after we were back from Florida, I got a really nasty email from eBay saying if I ever did anything like that again they would suspend my account.

Finally I got an email from a VT fan with three for sell. We agreed on a price and I sent him a money order. He said as soon as he got the money order he would send the tickets USPS Next Day Delivery. I sent the money order USPS Next Day and he emailed me that he had the money order and the tickets would go out the next day. The day he sent the tickets out was on Saturday December 23. I really didn’t expect the tickets until that Tuesday since the 24th was Sunday and Monday was Christmas Day. On Sunday the 24th, when we got home from church there was a tag on the door from the USPS saying they tried to deliver a package but since it had to be signed for they would try again on the next business day.

On Christmas Day my father-in-law came over for Christmas dinner. It was snowing and cold when he knocked on the door. After I let him in we started walking to the den when someone started knocking on the door. Wondering who in the world it could be I opened the door to see the postman standing there with an envelope. I signed the release and took the envelope into the bedroom. After opening it up and verifying that the three tickets were there I went to the den and got ready for Christmas dinner, with everything in place to go to the Orange Bowl.

After getting the email from the guy with three tickets I had listed the other two tickets on eBay and ended up making $150.00 more then I paid on them so I came out really good on that deal.

I was thrilled that the tickets had come on Christmas day since my boys were still unaware that they were going to the game. My wife had bought them each a Big 12 Championship shirt and had wrapped them in a box along with an orange that said “Orange Bowl Bound”. That evening we told them there was one more present to open and my wife went and got the boxes. They both started opening them at the same time with my oldest son getting his opened first. He pulled out the shirt and held it up. My wife said “what else is in the box”? He pulled out the orange and held it up. My wife said “what does it say”? He replied “Orange Bowl Bound”! My wife said "what does that mean" and he said "OU is going to the Orange Bowl" to which I replied “No that means YOU are going to the Orange Bowl”. With that my youngest son started tearing into his box to make sure he had an orange that said the same thing since he had not got to go to Notre Dame the year before. After pulling out his orange he yelled “I’m going too”!

To this day I don’t think they have ever had a Christmas present that was better then that.

To be continued…………..

[Sooner24]

Florida State
(Orange Bowl, BCS National Championship Game)……………continued

As the day drew closer to the game it was all my kids could talk about.

I had made a motel reservation by DFW on the day before the game because our flight was to leave at 7:00 in the morning. About fifteen minutes before we were heading out the door to go and get the other person that was going with us the phone rang. The caller ID said UNKNOWN so I started not to answer it. Thinking, oh what the heck, I picked the phone up and said hello. The next voice I heard was Chastity from Delta Airlines. She asked if anyone had called me about my flight. I replied that no one had called and she then went on to inform me that my flight had been canceled. I said rather loudly “My flight has been canceled”! My boys hearing this were going “Our flights been canceled”! It was then that Chastity told me not to worry that they had rebooked me on a non-stop flight that would arrive in Ft Lauderdale at 8:15………..PM! I said “lady we are going to the Orange Bowl if we get there at 8:15 PM we will miss the game”. She said “Oh my gosh hold on”. After about a fifteen minute wait she came back on the phone and told me that she had booked us on American Airlines non-stop leaving at 7:30 the next morning. She said just go to the Delta terminal in the morning and they would give me the tickets for the AA flight. I told the boys to come on we are going. After picking up our fourth we headed to DFW.

Before we even went to the motel I told the boys that we were going to the airport and get out tickets today so we could be at the AA terminal and get our boarding passes as soon as they opened in the morning. We drove straight to the airport and parked. We went inside and I explained to the lady at the ticket counter what was going on. She said she would fix us right up. In the meantime one of the boys came over and said “there is a flight leaving to Ft Lauderdale in 40 minutes”. I ask the lady at the ticket counter if she could get us on that flight. She said “you want to get on that flight”? To which I replied “Lady, I will ride in the overhead bin if you can get us on that flight”. She said to let her check but the flight was full so she gave us our tickets and we headed to the motel.

We checked into the motel and head to Grapevine Mills Mall and had dinner at Chili’s. After eating we went back to the motel and watched the Sugar Bowl before going to bed.

The next morning we were at the airport at 5:00 AM. We got our boarding passes and all three boys headed off to look for something to eat for breakfast. I just sat reading the paper at our gate. My youngest son was the first to make it back and he sat down beside me. By then it was around 6:30 and they announced that our flight was full and if anyone was willing to give up their seat they would give them $300 and guarantee you would be on the next flight at 10:30. My son said “Wow that's $1200 for all four of us let’s do it”. I told him if he wanted to take a chance on that next plane having a problem and missing the football game he was welcome to stay behind but I was getting on this plane as soon as they started boarding. He decided that with all that had happened that would probably be a good idea.

The other two boys wandered back down and in fifteen minutes they started boarding the plane. Around thirty minutes later we took off for Florida and a date with the Florida State Seminoles.

To be continued.............

[Sooner24]

Florida State
(Orange Bowl, BCS National Championship Game)……………continued

After an uneventful flight we landed in Ft Lauderdale and picked up our rental. We then drove to the motel and checked in so we could dump our bags in the room. After driving around a bit we stopped and had lunch at Hooters looking out over the Atlantic. Back to the motel to rest up a little before heading to Pro Player Stadium and a date with destiny.

I watched a weather forecast just before leaving the motel and not once was the word rain mentioned. Thinking it was okay I left our rain gear in the room. We arrived at the stadium about four hours before the game and went to the Miller Lite Orange Bowl Tailgate Party that was going on before the game. The boys and I had a picture taken that had us looking like we were in OU uniforms on the cover of a USA Today, with the Sears Trophy, saying Sooners win National Title. We then walked over to the stadium and picked up some tee-shirts and other souvenirs before heading back to the car to deposit our loot. On the walk to and from the stadium hundreds of FSU fans informed us “we didn’t have a chance in hell” and “load up your wagon and head back to Oklahoma”.

As soon as the stadium opened we headed inside and found our seats. As game time approached I wasn’t nervous in the least. I had actually been more nervous at the OSU game then I was one hour before the National Championship game. The clock ticked down and Patti LaBelle was going sing the National Anthem. For some reason she didn’t make it so native son Toby Keith, after having to stop and restart due to the FSU fans chanting and chopping, sang The national Anthem before a sold out Orange Bowl crowd.

With Denzel Washington doing the coin toss and Torrance Marshall asking for Josh Heupels trophy back the game was just minutes from beginning. After going to the first 12 games of the season, win or lose the Sooners had taken me on an incredible journey that would never be forgotten.

To be continued.............

[stonecoldsoonerfan]

I loved Bobby Proctor but it sure seemed like the passing teams just ate our lunch.

i couldn't tell you how many times i've thought the same thing.

[Pricetag]

we stopped and had lunch at Hooters looking out over the Atlantic.
What, no oceanfront Chili's? :D

[stonecoldsoonerfan]

Kansas State
(Big 12 Championship)

11-0.

The Kansas State fans were as drunk and obnoxious as any fans I had ever been around at a football game. In our section they yelled obscenities at us our any Sooner fan that was in range. I was left to wonder if it was the alcohol or just a different set of fans then the ones my youngest son and I had encountered earlier in the year. At one point I feared this Cat fan and Sooner fan were going to mix it up but nothing ever happened.



where's :dean: when you need him?:D

[Sooner24]

What, no oceanfront Chili's? :D


The boys wanted to see some Hooters. ;)

[Sooner24]

Florida State
(Orange Bowl, BCS National Championship Game)……………continued

When Chris Weinke threw a 35-yard completion on the first play of the game, my youngest son flopped into his seat and said “they are going to kill us”. I told him to get up and watch the game. Little did we know then that would be the longest play of the night for FSU. The defense held and it was our turn. We moved the ball but Andre Woolfolk fumbled and the Seminoles had the ball in OU territory and what would have seemed to be momentum. Torrence Marshall, was the momentum killer, on the next play with an interception of Weinke. The Sooners drove down to the FSU nine yard line but the drive stalled and we had to settle for a field goal. At this point I would have never believed that would be all the scoring in the first half, let alone all the points we would need to win the game, but that was the case and the Sooners took a slim 3-0 lead into the locker room.

In the second half it was more of the same with FSU missing a field goal and OU returning the favor. A 42-yard field goal by Tim Duncan with 4:24 left in the third period, and the lead had doubled the lead to 6-0. The fourth quarter ended with OU hanging on to that slim lead.

In the fourth quarter the OU defense made some outstanding play. The kind of plays that win National Championships. On a fourth down-and-ten from the OU 35, Derrick Strait tipped away a Weinke's pass that would have been a touchdown. On FSU’s next possession, they were faced with a third down at its ten. On the play, a scrambling Weinke ran seven yards but was hit by Calmus and the ball squirted loose, and safety Roy Williams recovered at the Seminoles' 15-yard line. Two plays later, Quentin Griffin darted into the end zone from ten yards out and the game, for all practical purposes, was over. We had aisle seats and were seated amongst a throng of Seminole fans and right after Q scored my youngest son jumps into the aisle and starts doing the FSU tomahawk chomp going O-k-l-a-h-o-m-a, O-k-l-a-h-o-m-a. I grabbed him and yanked him back to his seat telling him the last thing I need is to get into a fist fight with some pi$$ed off Nole fan. There were four, twenty something, Miami fans seated three rows behind us and they were pretty buzzed. All game they had yelled for FSU so they could get a share of the title. As the clock ticked off the final seconds they broke out into a “We're #2, We're #2” chant that even had a few FSU fans laughing. Only a bad snap over punter Jeff Ferguson's head in the final minute kept OU from shutting out Florida State and winning the game 13-0, the same as their record but it really didn’t matter. I just want to mention Ontei Jones. He was all over the field never letting Florida State get any kind of return game and just wasting several guys in the process.

With OU running out the clock I stood there wishing my dad was alive to see this. As tears welled up in my eyes I hugged my boys thankful, not so much that OU had won the title, but the fact the three of us had just shared a memory that would last a lifetime.

We headed over to my best friends seats and celebrated with them watching Bob Stoops accept the crystal ball and the players hugging each other. For players like Josh Norman, Rocky Calmus and a few other players this was extra sweet. After going through the Blake years to this must have seemed like a dream. But it wasn’t a dream and even as I type this I glance over at the picture of my boys and me, with the scoreboard in the background, just to make sure it wasn't.

It just doesn’t get any better then this.





To be continued.............

[Sooner24]

Florida State
(Orange Bowl, BCS National Championship Game)……………continued

After the celebration we headed out of the stadium and to the car. On the way out Lance West with channel 4 was there and boys got on TV back home. We got to the car and worked our way back to the Interstate. 90% of the traffic had cleared out seeing how most of it was FSU fans, and they got out of there in a hurry. Driving up the Interstate, towards the motel we passed the truck pulling the trailer with Boomer and Sooner inside. We honked and waved and they honked and waved back. When we finally arrived back at the motel it was late. After watching ESPN do a wrap up on the game we got to bed because we had to get to the airport early in the morning for our flight back, or so I thought. Getting up at 6:00 with about four hours sleep I showered and woke the boys so we could return the rental and get to the airport. Needless to say they weren’t experiencing an adrenalin rush like I was and could barely stay awake.

Once we cleared security at the airport my youngest son headed off to find something to eat and the other two boys found a place to park and went back to sleep. Finding a monitor I start looking for our gate. I see flights to Dallas but not our flight number. Finally I walk over to a gate that is getting ready to start boarding for Dallas and I get in line to talk to the GA. When I get up to the counter the GA ask if he could help me and I ask what gate our flight left from. He looked at the tickets looked at me looked at the tickets and then said; “You do realize these tickets are for 8:30 PM”. My first thought is we are going to be stuck at the airport for twelve more hours. I said I didn’t realize I had made the return flight for 8:30 PM and thanked him. He said hold on a minute I might be able to get you on this flight. He told me to give him all of our tickets and wait there close by and he would call my name if he was able to get us on. I then head out to get the boys and get all of us to that gate incase he could get us on that flight. I found my youngest son eating a bowl of cereal at a little coffee shop and hollered for him to come on. He said he was almost through and I said “NOW”! He turned the bowl up and gulped the cereal down and came running. I found the other two boys and told them to come on, that I had made the return for 8:30 PM instead of AM but they might get us on this flight that was leaving. We all got to the gate area and waited. He called out about a dozen names on the standby list and I had just about given up hope when he called my name. We all went running up to the counter and he gave us our boarding passes. He apologized because he couldn’t seat us together and I told him that was fine I just appreciated him getting us on that flight. We had to make a connection in Atlanta but he told me they should have all our info when we get there and there were plenty of seats on that flight so we shouldn’t have a problem.

We had just barely gotten seated when the plane started moving. After we took off I started going around too see if the boys were okay. Just about as I expected the two oldest boys were asleep and my youngest was watching the Simpson’s on the TV monitor in the plane. After a short flight to Atlanta we got off the plane and I was worried we would have to go half way around the airport to get to our gate. Much to my surprise our gate was only three gates from where we had just arrived and we walked right over. I told the gentleman at the counter that we had been standby in Ft Lauderdale and before I even told him my name he said I have your boarding passes right here. We had to wait around thirty minutes before they started boarding our flight but before long we were on our way to Dallas. When we got to Dallas we called the motel for the shuttle, where we had stayed on the way down, because we had left the car parked there while we were gone. As we stood at the curb waiting for the shuttle I told them “Boys enjoy this because you will never see another season like this one”. “We may win ten more National Titles in your lifetime but there will never be another season a magical as this”. I don’t really know if they understood what I was talking about at the time but I think over the last six years they have come to understand that teams don’t start 19th and win National Titles. It’s hard to start first and win without some breaks along the way. The shuttle arrived; we got to the car and started for home. As we were driving up I-35 we passed this car with Nebraska tags and as we got beside it there were two girls in the car. We waved at them and they gave us the one finger salute. We just laughed at them and drove on.

Thirteen games played and thirteen games won, I was lucky enough to have attended all of them. Sometimes you just catch magic in a bottle. Make that Sooner Magic in a bottle.

[goingoneight]

Very few had the fire of Ontei Jones that night. (sniffs) We need a teary-eyed smiley... :O

[Bosley]

My Orange Bowl Road trip 2004 in detail


Saturday night the 1st (New Year’s Day):

10:05- It all starts out in Norman after eating quite possibly the best chicken grilled stuffed burrito of all time. I leave my car in a banged up apartment complex and patiently await for my GREYHOUND bus to arrive.

11:09- While waiting in a dark alley where I'm sure rapes and drug deals occur on an hourly basis....The bus pulls up promptly 30 minuets late. The bus driver, a very outspoken black woman asks where I'm going. I reply "Dallas to Miami" she laughs and says "good luck with that chief" This is my first clue to the madness about to ensue on my orange bowl bus trip. After our driver takes a lengthy sabbatical to the phone she proceeds to tell me the bus is full, and I have to stand until the next stop......!@#$.....


12:00 midnight Sunday morning- I'm numb in my left leg and a strange child is sleeping on my other leg....I've been standing for 55 minuets...and my legs give out when we hit large bumps. I meet this guy next to the strange sleeping child that brings up how much he wants to be bonging vodka....I realize my search for entertainment is over....we discus the meaning of life and why exactly we eat mcdonals even though we know whats in it...it was a good time

12:20 Paul’s Valley Oklahoma- We're finally at our first stop and the blood clot in my left leg has just cut loose. I finally get a seat next to an angry red neck and realize my person space bubble will not be existent for about 37 hours....

1:00 AM- I find out very quickly Greyhound buses are large rolling cess pools......Filthy spawns of hell.....This bus has culture this is no boring a@# plane....psshhh.

2:45 AM Dallas- We're in a Dallas gas station named TA express....which I quickly find means "T & A express"....I've never seen more hookers in my life.

3:00 AM Dallas- We change buses and I sit about 5 feet away from possibly the stinkiest man alive.......Every 10 minuets like clock work this machine of filth let out the most spine numbing nastiness known to man...I try to ignore it with my new friends I've made on the trip but I find it increasingly difficult to ignore anything when I can't breath.

6:00 AM- I'm delirious....me and my roadies have covered every conversation imaginable.....from ghosts, to politics....to how my new motion pillow feels like boobs...I start to zone out...

8:30 AM- Trying to sleep before Shreveport LA the gentleman in front of me reclines his seat into my effing lap. I'm so tired I contemplate saying something but this man is probly packing heat....so I don’t....I need a beer....I try to sleep

11:47 AM- I wake up in easily the most uncomfortable position known to man. I have slept on my a$$ bone wrong and I can't feel my right leg. Walking to the bathroom is now a chore since I'm sure I have spine damage and my left shoulder jerks when I move my right leg.

11:55 AM- Baton Rogue looks like a scene out of the movies. I can imagine little kids playing in the sprinkler over the summer, drinking coke cola out of glass bottles, while an old man plays bayou music on the porch in a wife beater and boxers.

6:00 PM- I get to change seats! Hell yah! I get two seats to myself....the gloriousness of this cannot be explained in words though I am still tired and disgruntled. The man in front of me asks if I'm ok....I just grunt and eat my cheese nips...this man fears me....I don’t care

7:00 PM- I have not seen an attractive woman for 24 hours. Attractive women do not exist in this world I currently reside in. I go to sleep

6:30 PM- The bus we're on decides to friggin break down, I'm still under the influence of Tylenol PM and I'm zoning out in the terminal. I look stoned I guess and a man offers to sell me some "Calvin" and "Rock".....I don’t say anything, and eat my newly purchased gummy worms

6:45 AM- After some confusing actions take place the US border control comes onto the bus to check for US citizenship. A man sitting one seat to my left does not speak English, he has no passport, and they cuff him about 1 foot away from me. Another alien is spooked and tries to make a run for it....this man is not very fast and is taken down outside my window after swinging at 2 officers.

12:00 PM- I've made it to Ft. Lauderdale but my friends don’t get in until at least 6:00. I cab over to the hotel and wait it out. I meet older OU alumni from Kansas and even some OU fans from Nebraska. Deprived of sleep and food I'm positive I look like a homeless man and regret meeting sooner fans looking like a crack head.

6:00 PM- I've been sleeping by the hotel pool for 6 hours now....I'm positive people thing I'm homeless

6:05 PM- My friend Nat shows up, Hell yah! Let’s get some McDonalds. We eat like 8 pounds of food and decide to go to the bar.

8:00 PM- We meet up with Logan who apparently is our designated driver for the trip even though he drinks heavily. We hit the bar up called "soer apple" I tell them about the typo on the name, they're not amused. Auburn/ V. Tech games on....Auburn squeaks by V tech. The bartender is kind of cute....after 7 beers.

10:00 PM- We pick up more friends, Ben and His brother Bobby from the hotel. Nat gets a tip from the bartender earlier to try this place called "elbo room"....Another very clever choice of spelling....Its on the beach so why not. We get to Elbo room, and Bobby isn't old enough to get in. So we head down to another bar. We're all ID'ed again except our server Rachael is awesome. Logan gets her number, I find a 20 on the ground, and Bobby gets beer we all win.

2:00 AM- Slightly buzzed we all find out bars are open in Florida until 4:00.....hell yah, I'm down. Bobby and Logan have vanished.... Nat, Ben and myself hit another bar. I drink a couple more beers until some woman buys me easily the strongest rum and coke I've ever had....I'm a happy man. Liquid courage sets in, and Ben decides to hit on this moderately good looking middle aged woman. He crashes and burns....Its cool though, we're in Miami, the weather is nice, and I'm drunk dialing everyone in my phone. Life is good

4:00AM- We're trying to drive home....Bobby keeps talking about this store called 24 hour taco. I see a trend in our scenery....old caddys, and lincoln town cars everywhere...... We've slipped into the projects of Miami.....We're rolling 5 drunk white guys deep, in a rental dodge neon, with the beach boys "Barbara Ann" cranked up in the car....in the ghettos of Miami....Fabulous....

Tuesday:

10:00 AM- I wake up with the worst hangover I've ever had. I go to the sink and drink about 3 gallons of water.....water is the nectar of the gods when hung over, except Florida water tastes like an armpit. I'm in no position to complain.

2:00 PM- Time to tailgate. We ride out to the stadium and park. 2 o'clock is now "beer o'clock" We go to the store and buy the cheapest miller light known to man. Its sold to us by the miller light girls....God bless the miller light girls....they're great sales women...we buy lots of beer.

2:05 PM- The miller light girls aren’t good sales people, we've been fooled happily by T and A.

5:00 PM- We've killed 3 18 packs of miller light....I'm waisted...I want to talk smack on USC but I cannot form complete sentences. I have to pee for the 8th time in 20 minuets. The lines to the port-a-potties are getting longer and I wait it out

5:12 PM- finally get into the potty; I forget to leave my beer outside. There is a cup holder in the potty.......This may be simultaneously the best and grossest idea in the history of man. I leave the potty 10 pounds lighter, but I forget my beer....bah....the beer is damned to the potty forever.

5:35 PM- Lynn Swan from ESPN walks by and bumps into me and says..."excuse me" I'm like its freaking Lynn swan and want to say "Mr. Swan I'm a huge fan of your work and that catch you made for the stealers during the super bowl, God bless you Mr. Swan" What came out sounded more like "Swaaaannnzzyyy!!::giggle giggle::".....He looks at me like he was just analy violated.....I see his disgust and comprehend hugging him...."sober Joe" interjects I listen to "sober Joe"

5:35 PM- I find Nat who has now holstered a Miller light 18 box to his belt. He says he has to pee, I tell him about the cup holder in the potty, he seems uninterested and his eyes show a sense of urgency. We run into Ben on our Voyage we find a potty line for Ben to stand in but this is completely unacceptable for Nat. We try to find Nat a spot to pee out of the public eye but nothing is available....he looses control and whips it out and punishes an Azalea bush with his liquid fury out in the open. Many see, few care.

6:00 PM Stadium is open...we find our seats. I have faith in my sooners. My fellow comrades and legions of sooners commence **** talk and boast proudly of our future sooner victory. We rule the pre game kingdom.

8:00 PM- KICK OFF!!!!!

8:05 PM- OKLAHOMA SCORES!!! We are now sure of our sooner victory!!

8:06 PM- USC scores.....S#@!.....just a set back....

8:09 PM- I notice something troubling....USC is strong, USC is fast, USC is very ****ed off at Oklahoma

9:00 PM- halftime....I'm still drunk and starting to get the post drunk "earthquake head ache"..... Ashley Simpson starts to sing....the head ache gets worse.....Oklahoma is getting killed

10:30 PM- After the 8th consecutive "worst effing call I've ever seen in my life" I head to the bathroom....I see an obviously drunk and disgruntled man kicking the wall, I say "chill man, don’t you think you're taking this a bit to seriously".....He grunts and swings his arms in a fury at the urinal, he goes out of control and throws a paper towel at the wall... in doing so he clips his face with his thumbnail cutting a one quarter inch gash above his left eye.....he stops to see the blood now blending in with his crimson shirt and gives me a look like "I may be taking this a bit to seriously"

Wednesday:

12:00 midnight- USC tears us a new a$$ hole...I feel like I just payed someone to hit me in the testicles with a 9 iron for 4 hours.

1:00 AM- Time to drown our sorrows

1:10 AM- We arrive at hard rock Casino. I'm starving. I order my first beer. The beer sells out quickly...I stick with long island iced teas. Logan calls our former waitress Rachael to come hang out....

3:00 AM- Rachael shows up and we're all drunk. Ben puts a dollar in a slot machine and wins like 5 dollars....I call BS....he puts that 5 dollars in the slot machine and wins like 16 dollars.....Ben is now addicted to gambling....I try it out I loose 5 dollars....psshh

3:04 AM- Ben is now 30 dollars in the hole

3:30 AM- We do what college students do best when drunk....talk politics...good conversation commences

4:00 AM- Me and Rachael have been talking for a while now while Ben is passed out on the couch, Bobby is belligerent, Logan has disappeared and Nat is still drinking.

5:00 AM- We all stumble out of the casino, Rachael mentions a hot tub....hot tub sounds good....I go to Rachael's

6:00 AM- We don’t go near the hot tub instead talk about politics some more

6:30 AM- This leads to philosophy

7:00 AM- This leads to kissing.....

7:30 AM- We just met each other like 5 hours prior to this event and my drunk self is confused...Both a little freaked out by these untimely events she drives me to the hotel....we'll keep in touch, like I said before Rachael is the awesome.

8:00 AM- pass out on the floor

4:00 PM- time to get up and go home

5:46 PM- I go to the bus station after a taxi robs me blind, and sit down....a crack head walks in and says "blashed meh rah tupatasah ::laugh:: meh blacks azz. He continues to talk to himself and laugh. I think about talking to him.....a part of me thinks this is not wise.....20 seconds later a larger woman stoned off her gourd on meth is hitting the window and talking gibberish.

6:20 PM- Bus shows up, thank God......I see a drug dealer arrested outside my window...I've slipped into Dante’s 9th ring of hell....

Thursday:

12:00 AM- Tired and horribly emotional, I write a 4 page essay and listen to Enya cds.....I meet a fellow Normanite on the bus named Michelle....trip back is going to be easier

6:30 PM- Houston.......This is the filthiest stop yet...a police officer escorts a man outside...the man jacks the officer in the face. I partially crap myself...the man is taken down and cracked in the head.

5:00 AM- our bus is 3 hours behind schedule...

5:30 AM- a man stumbles in and passes out in the middle of the floor in Dallas......everyone is freaked out, he is dragged off by paramedics......The trip back has slipped into the twigh light zone. We are held in Dallas for an extra 2 hours and its freezing cold here

8:45 AM- I take it back....Oklahoma is freezing cold.....

11:45 AM- I'm home.....I walk into my house and realize I haven’t slept on a bed in close to a week......This is the conclusion of the absolute insanity that was my Orange Bowl road trip........

God Bless the all mighty road trip.

Boomer Sooner!

-Bosley

[snp]

^ That's my type of trip.

[Sooner24]

My Orange Bowl Road trip 2004 in detail


Saturday night the 1st (New Year’s Day):

10:05- It all starts out in Norman after eating quite possibly the best chicken grilled stuffed burrito of all time. I leave my car in a banged up apartment complex and patiently await for my GREYHOUND bus to arrive.

11:09- While waiting in a dark alley where I'm sure rapes and drug deals occur on an hourly basis....The bus pulls up promptly 30 minuets late. The bus driver, a very outspoken black woman asks where I'm going. I reply "Dallas to Miami" she laughs and says "good luck with that chief" This is my first clue to the madness about to ensue on my orange bowl bus trip. After our driver takes a lengthy sabbatical to the phone she proceeds to tell me the bus is full, and I have to stand until the next stop......!@#$.....


12:00 midnight Sunday morning- I'm numb in my left leg and a strange child is sleeping on my other leg....I've been standing for 55 minuets...and my legs give out when we hit large bumps. I meet this guy next to the strange sleeping child that brings up how much he wants to be bonging vodka....I realize my search for entertainment is over....we discus the meaning of life and why exactly we eat mcdonals even though we know whats in it...it was a good time

12:20 Paul’s Valley Oklahoma- We're finally at our first stop and the blood clot in my left leg has just cut loose. I finally get a seat next to an angry red neck and realize my person space bubble will not be existent for about 37 hours....

1:00 AM- I find out very quickly Greyhound buses are large rolling cess pools......Filthy spawns of hell.....This bus has culture this is no boring a@# plane....psshhh.

2:45 AM Dallas- We're in a Dallas gas station named TA express....which I quickly find means "T & A express"....I've never seen more hookers in my life.

3:00 AM Dallas- We change buses and I sit about 5 feet away from possibly the stinkiest man alive.......Every 10 minuets like clock work this machine of filth let out the most spine numbing nastiness known to man...I try to ignore it with my new friends I've made on the trip but I find it increasingly difficult to ignore anything when I can't breath.

6:00 AM- I'm delirious....me and my roadies have covered every conversation imaginable.....from ghosts, to politics....to how my new motion pillow feels like boobs...I start to zone out...

8:30 AM- Trying to sleep before Shreveport LA the gentleman in front of me reclines his seat into my effing lap. I'm so tired I contemplate saying something but this man is probly packing heat....so I don’t....I need a beer....I try to sleep

11:47 AM- I wake up in easily the most uncomfortable position known to man. I have slept on my a$$ bone wrong and I can't feel my right leg. Walking to the bathroom is now a chore since I'm sure I have spine damage and my left shoulder jerks when I move my right leg.

11:55 AM- Baton Rogue looks like a scene out of the movies. I can imagine little kids playing in the sprinkler over the summer, drinking coke cola out of glass bottles, while an old man plays bayou music on the porch in a wife beater and boxers.

6:00 PM- I get to change seats! Hell yah! I get two seats to myself....the gloriousness of this cannot be explained in words though I am still tired and disgruntled. The man in front of me asks if I'm ok....I just grunt and eat my cheese nips...this man fears me....I don’t care

7:00 PM- I have not seen an attractive woman for 24 hours. Attractive women do not exist in this world I currently reside in. I go to sleep

6:30 PM- The bus we're on decides to friggin break down, I'm still under the influence of Tylenol PM and I'm zoning out in the terminal. I look stoned I guess and a man offers to sell me some "Calvin" and "Rock".....I don’t say anything, and eat my newly purchased gummy worms

6:45 AM- After some confusing actions take place the US border control comes onto the bus to check for US citizenship. A man sitting one seat to my left does not speak English, he has no passport, and they cuff him about 1 foot away from me. Another alien is spooked and tries to make a run for it....this man is not very fast and is taken down outside my window after swinging at 2 officers.

12:00 PM- I've made it to Ft. Lauderdale but my friends don’t get in until at least 6:00. I cab over to the hotel and wait it out. I meet older OU alumni from Kansas and even some OU fans from Nebraska. Deprived of sleep and food I'm positive I look like a homeless man and regret meeting sooner fans looking like a crack head.

6:00 PM- I've been sleeping by the hotel pool for 6 hours now....I'm positive people thing I'm homeless

6:05 PM- My friend Nat shows up, Hell yah! Let’s get some McDonalds. We eat like 8 pounds of food and decide to go to the bar.

8:00 PM- We meet up with Logan who apparently is our designated driver for the trip even though he drinks heavily. We hit the bar up called "soer apple" I tell them about the typo on the name, they're not amused. Auburn/ V. Tech games on....Auburn squeaks by V tech. The bartender is kind of cute....after 7 beers.

10:00 PM- We pick up more friends, Ben and His brother Bobby from the hotel. Nat gets a tip from the bartender earlier to try this place called "elbo room"....Another very clever choice of spelling....Its on the beach so why not. We get to Elbo room, and Bobby isn't old enough to get in. So we head down to another bar. We're all ID'ed again except our server Rachael is awesome. Logan gets her number, I find a 20 on the ground, and Bobby gets beer we all win.

2:00 AM- Slightly buzzed we all find out bars are open in Florida until 4:00.....hell yah, I'm down. Bobby and Logan have vanished.... Nat, Ben and myself hit another bar. I drink a couple more beers until some woman buys me easily the strongest rum and coke I've ever had....I'm a happy man. Liquid courage sets in, and Ben decides to hit on this moderately good looking middle aged woman. He crashes and burns....Its cool though, we're in Miami, the weather is nice, and I'm drunk dialing everyone in my phone. Life is good

4:00AM- We're trying to drive home....Bobby keeps talking about this store called 24 hour taco. I see a trend in our scenery....old caddys, and lincoln town cars everywhere...... We've slipped into the projects of Miami.....We're rolling 5 drunk white guys deep, in a rental dodge neon, with the beach boys "Barbara Ann" cranked up in the car....in the ghettos of Miami....Fabulous....

Tuesday:

10:00 AM- I wake up with the worst hangover I've ever had. I go to the sink and drink about 3 gallons of water.....water is the nectar of the gods when hung over, except Florida water tastes like an armpit. I'm in no position to complain.

2:00 PM- Time to tailgate. We ride out to the stadium and park. 2 o'clock is now "beer o'clock" We go to the store and buy the cheapest miller light known to man. Its sold to us by the miller light girls....God bless the miller light girls....they're great sales women...we buy lots of beer.

2:05 PM- The miller light girls aren’t good sales people, we've been fooled happily by T and A.

5:00 PM- We've killed 3 18 packs of miller light....I'm waisted...I want to talk smack on USC but I cannot form complete sentences. I have to pee for the 8th time in 20 minuets. The lines to the port-a-potties are getting longer and I wait it out

5:12 PM- finally get into the potty; I forget to leave my beer outside. There is a cup holder in the potty.......This may be simultaneously the best and grossest idea in the history of man. I leave the potty 10 pounds lighter, but I forget my beer....bah....the beer is damned to the potty forever.

5:35 PM- Lynn Swan from ESPN walks by and bumps into me and says..."excuse me" I'm like its freaking Lynn swan and want to say "Mr. Swan I'm a huge fan of your work and that catch you made for the stealers during the super bowl, God bless you Mr. Swan" What came out sounded more like "Swaaaannnzzyyy!!::giggle giggle::".....He looks at me like he was just analy violated.....I see his disgust and comprehend hugging him...."sober Joe" interjects I listen to "sober Joe"

5:35 PM- I find Nat who has now holstered a Miller light 18 box to his belt. He says he has to pee, I tell him about the cup holder in the potty, he seems uninterested and his eyes show a sense of urgency. We run into Ben on our Voyage we find a potty line for Ben to stand in but this is completely unacceptable for Nat. We try to find Nat a spot to pee out of the public eye but nothing is available....he looses control and whips it out and punishes an Azalea bush with his liquid fury out in the open. Many see, few care.

6:00 PM Stadium is open...we find our seats. I have faith in my sooners. My fellow comrades and legions of sooners commence **** talk and boast proudly of our future sooner victory. We rule the pre game kingdom.

8:00 PM- KICK OFF!!!!!

8:05 PM- OKLAHOMA SCORES!!! We are now sure of our sooner victory!!

8:06 PM- USC scores.....S#@!.....just a set back....

8:09 PM- I notice something troubling....USC is strong, USC is fast, USC is very ****ed off at Oklahoma

9:00 PM- halftime....I'm still drunk and starting to get the post drunk "earthquake head ache"..... Ashley Simpson starts to sing....the head ache gets worse.....Oklahoma is getting killed

10:30 PM- After the 8th consecutive "worst effing call I've ever seen in my life" I head to the bathroom....I see an obviously drunk and disgruntled man kicking the wall, I say "chill man, don’t you think you're taking this a bit to seriously".....He grunts and swings his arms in a fury at the urinal, he goes out of control and throws a paper towel at the wall... in doing so he clips his face with his thumbnail cutting a one quarter inch gash above his left eye.....he stops to see the blood now blending in with his crimson shirt and gives me a look like "I may be taking this a bit to seriously"

Wednesday:

12:00 midnight- USC tears us a new a$$ hole...I feel like I just payed someone to hit me in the testicles with a 9 iron for 4 hours.

1:00 AM- Time to drown our sorrows

1:10 AM- We arrive at hard rock Casino. I'm starving. I order my first beer. The beer sells out quickly...I stick with long island iced teas. Logan calls our former waitress Rachael to come hang out....

3:00 AM- Rachael shows up and we're all drunk. Ben puts a dollar in a slot machine and wins like 5 dollars....I call BS....he puts that 5 dollars in the slot machine and wins like 16 dollars.....Ben is now addicted to gambling....I try it out I loose 5 dollars....psshh

3:04 AM- Ben is now 30 dollars in the hole

3:30 AM- We do what college students do best when drunk....talk politics...good conversation commences

4:00 AM- Me and Rachael have been talking for a while now while Ben is passed out on the couch, Bobby is belligerent, Logan has disappeared and Nat is still drinking.

5:00 AM- We all stumble out of the casino, Rachael mentions a hot tub....hot tub sounds good....I go to Rachael's

6:00 AM- We don’t go near the hot tub instead talk about politics some more

6:30 AM- This leads to philosophy

7:00 AM- This leads to kissing.....

7:30 AM- We just met each other like 5 hours prior to this event and my drunk self is confused...Both a little freaked out by these untimely events she drives me to the hotel....we'll keep in touch, like I said before Rachael is the awesome.

8:00 AM- pass out on the floor

4:00 PM- time to get up and go home

5:46 PM- I go to the bus station after a taxi robs me blind, and sit down....a crack head walks in and says "blashed meh rah tupatasah ::laugh:: meh blacks azz. He continues to talk to himself and laugh. I think about talking to him.....a part of me thinks this is not wise.....20 seconds later a larger woman stoned off her gourd on meth is hitting the window and talking gibberish.

6:20 PM- Bus shows up, thank God......I see a drug dealer arrested outside my window...I've slipped into Dante’s 9th ring of hell....

Thursday:

12:00 AM- Tired and horribly emotional, I write a 4 page essay and listen to Enya cds.....I meet a fellow Normanite on the bus named Michelle....trip back is going to be easier

6:30 PM- Houston.......This is the filthiest stop yet...a police officer escorts a man outside...the man jacks the officer in the face. I partially crap myself...the man is taken down and cracked in the head.

5:00 AM- our bus is 3 hours behind schedule...

5:30 AM- a man stumbles in and passes out in the middle of the floor in Dallas......everyone is freaked out, he is dragged off by paramedics......The trip back has slipped into the twigh light zone. We are held in Dallas for an extra 2 hours and its freezing cold here

8:45 AM- I take it back....Oklahoma is freezing cold.....

11:45 AM- I'm home.....I walk into my house and realize I haven’t slept on a bed in close to a week......This is the conclusion of the absolute insanity that was my Orange Bowl road trip........

God Bless the all mighty road trip.

Boomer Sooner!

-Bosley


Information on A.A.
Alcoholics Anonymous® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

[Collier11]

Information on A.A.
Alcoholics Anonymous® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

Thats not alcoholism, thats a good weekend trip to watch OU play!!! Boomer Sooner!:D

[snp]

AA is for quitters.

[Pricetag]

That story contains snippets of a story I remember of a Texas fan's account of his trip to the 1999 Big 12 Championship game.

[Bosley]

I think I know what you're talking about, dont think there is any except the line big, fast and ****ed off. Could be wrong though, I wrote this years after I read that account.

[Sooner24]

2000…The conclusion

After going to all thirteen games there was no way I was going to miss the championship celebration. I don’t remember exactly how many people were at the event but it seems like it was in the 25,000 to 35,000 range. David Boren spoke, the OU Glee Club, or whatever they are called, sang and Toby Keith sang the National Anthem, just like he did a few days earlier in the Orange Bowl. Players and coaches were introduced and we just sat and soaked in the whole thing. When Toby Keith sang “How do you like me now”, with the season highlights going on the SoonerVision I got goose bumps. When it was all over, as we walked to the car, all my boys could talk about was next year. All I wanted to do was enjoy this year.

[Sooner24]

2001

I am just going back to picking my favorite game of the year and mentioning a few other games.

After going to all thirteen games in 2000 my youngest son decided he wanted to go all the games in 2001. That would include trips to Colorado Springs, Colorado, Lawrence, Kansas, Lincoln, Nebraska and Lubbock, Texas. Since I had planned to go to the Air Force game the other three wouldn’t be that much trouble.

Just to mention a few things about the road trips. I was sicker than a dog when we went to Lawrence, but all of the great Kansas City bunch (that used to post on here) had a fantastic tailgate before the game. I just wish I had felt well enough to enjoy it. I miss all those guys posting on here.

At the Nebraska game I had gone to the restroom and missed seeing Jason White tear his ACL. When I got back to my seat my son said “It doesn’t look good” and it wasn’t. Memorial Stadium, in Lincoln, has to be one of, if not, the dumpiest stadium in the Big 12. The seats are only big enough for Paris Hilton boney butt and even that would be a tight fit. The restrooms are nasty, the seats are splintered, 75% of the seats are end zone seats and it looks like some drunk with an Erector Set put it together. I would even have to say as crappy as T. Boone stadium was, I would rather watch a game there then in Lincoln. You would think after all these years and the tradition they have they would have spent some of the money upgrading their facilities. As far as the self proclaimed “Best Fans in the World” my son and I were flipped off dozens of times driving around Lincoln the Friday night before the game. I guess that’s why it’s self proclaimed.

The closest I have ever come to getting in a fight at a game was in Lubbock. The really sad thing was it was with some drunken Sooner fans that were cussing and making complete asses of themselves. After I finally told them one more obscenity and I was getting security they finally shut up. And some people wonder why other team’s fans don’t like us.


My favorite game of 2001 is, without a doubt, the Air Force game. As soon as my youngest son got out of school on Thursday, him my oldest son and I, drove to Amarillo and spent the night. The next morning we drove to Canyon City and went to the Royal Gorge. Leaving there we headed to Colorado Springs. You could see dark rain clouds in the distance and sheets of rain falling the closer we got to CS. When we got there the streets were flooded but we were able to make it to our motel. We checked in then went to meet up with my best friend, his son, and his brother-in-law. The next day we got up and drove to the game. This was an historic game in that it was the first ever official Soonerfans.com away game tailgate. Norm. Dean, Phil and many others were there. After the game Dean headed to the mountains looking for something to kill. The scenery was fantastic, the weather wonderful and the stadium was about 75% red. Before the game they had a fly over that seemed to last thirty minutes and included every kind of plane you can imagine. At halftime the Air Force Falcon flew over the stands, just out of arms length, from the fans, in what was said to be the “only live mascot to perform at a college halftime”. It looked like rain several times but just seemed to go around us and never did rain a drop. The next day we went to the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame before heading home.


Just nine days after we got home the whole world changed forever. If the Air Force game had been scheduled after 9/11 we would not have been able to go as they did not allow any visiting fans to their games the rest of the year until the end of the year when they played Army.

When all was said and done my youngest son and I attended all thirteen games home and away and I ran my games in a row streak to 26 games.

[Sooner24]

Sooner24, this is one of the best threads I have ever read on this board. About your recollection of the 16-13 Michigan State vs Ohio State game back in the 70's. I remember watching that on regional TV at my dorm while I was in college. And the stories of 2000...WOW! Now, I really can't wait because my first game seeing the Sooners was against North Carolina in 2001.


I wanted to add this to the end of my 2001 summary. I think this was the game that the skies opened up at the end of the game and Dean drove his wicked looking Sooner motorcycle home in a monsoon. If that was the game, it was one of the funniest stories I have ever heard in my life.

[OUstud]

24, these are awesome. I'm glad you mentioned KSU 2000's crowd being the loudest you've ever heard, I completely agree. Not even A&M before 4th and inches last year came close to that.

[Sooner24]

2002

My favorite game of 2002 was the Alabama game. Bama was down but I had waited for a chance to see them play us since the Blue Bonnet Bowl in 1970. Of coarse this wasn’t Bear Bryant bringing in the Tide but it was still a game between two teams that had a combined 39 National Championships. Never has there been an invasion into Norman like the Alabama fans. The Lloyd Noble parking lot was full of motor homes and travel trailers, the likes of which, I have never seen. It was incredible.

OU should have won the game going away but let the Tide score 24 points in the second half and trailed 27-23 until Nate Hybl drove the Sooners down field, aided by a great shovel pass and run by Renaldo Works that gained 39 yards with him jumping over and alluding Crimson defenders all over the field. Alabama drove to the OU 43 yard line and appeared to be getting in position to try and tie the game with a field goal when Eric Bassey picked a mishandled ball out of mid air and returned it for a touchdown. The final score was no indication of how close the game had really been.

A few other things about the 2002 season and some of the games I attended. Missouri is not a good place to play a night game. The natives have to much time to drink and get nasty. When we lined up to attempt a field goal to take the lead with about 6:30 minutes to play I didn’t look I was just going to let the crowd tell me if it was good or not. I was standing between my youngest son and a friend and for the longest time there was just silence. Then they both started high fiving each other over my head and yelling TOUCHDOWN!!!! I like to never figure out what happened until they calmed down enough to explain it to me.

After the OSU game we stopped just outside of Stillwater to get something to drink and this smart-alecky kid that was working there said “We just cost you a chance to play in a BCS game” to which I replied “You must not know much about football because all we have to do is beat Colorado next week and we are in”. He just looked at me with a blank stare on his face and said “I didn’t know that”.

Reliant Stadium is without a doubt the nicest football stadium I have ever been in. Jerry World will have some ways to go to top it in my opinion. It is the American Airlines Center of football stadiums. Tickets were a dime a dozen and we ended up on the 40 yard line with end zone tickets. I had bought six tickets off of a guy in Nebraska for twenty bucks and he paid the shipping. I almost felt bad for him, almost.

At the end of the season my youngest son and I had attended every game home and away up until the Rose Bowl. Looking back I wish I had gone but I was ready to stay home and watch one on TV. So after 39 games in a row home and away the steak was over.

[LoyalFan]

24,

Thanks so much for this effort. It brings back so many (mostly) happy memories.
My first in-person game was OU 45 Texiz 0 in '56 and I've been a rabid Crimson n' Creamer ever since.
My favorite over-the-radio game was the '75 Mizzou tilt. My dad (RIP) was an MU grad and we listened to the game together as we sipped cognac and savored some fine cigars on the back porch of his home. COLD!!!
He was joyously anticipating victory when Joe W. cut loose for the winning TD and extra points. Well, he had just lighted a fresh (smuggled) Cuban and, sad to say, Pop stood, threw it down, and did a tap dance on it. Oh well.
(Not trying to be a wise-arse, but it's "tickets for SALE", not "sell". And "better THAN", not "then". 'K?)
I hope you'll chronicle the Sooners' achievements for years to come, including a few more National C'Ship seasons.
Thanks again,

LF

[Sooner24]

2003

Boy this was one of those years I had several games that vied for a spot as my favorite game.

There was the Texas game. It was the first time I had gone to the Cotton Bowl with both my boys and my oldest sons’ first OU/Texas game. My wife was pretty upset with me for quite a while after this game because the boys and I missed my nieces wedding to go to the game. Back at Christmas 2002 my sister-in-law had said that Brandi, her daughter, was getting married in October. Red flags went up and I ask what day. When she said October 11th I was pretty sure I was going to be in trouble. I was right I was in trouble. As soon as everyone had gone home I jumped on the internet and sure enough OU/Texas jumped up on the monitor. I started telling my wife in August I would not be going to the wedding but it wasn’t until a week before the game the she finally realized I wasn’t kidding. Boy it was doghouse city for a while.

Another game the made the short list was A&M. Boy if there was ever a game 100 points would have been a sure thing this was it. I had never been to a college game where they let the clock run on out of bounds plays and after first downs were made, just to keep the score down. Then to take a knee to keep from scoring was the final insult to the Aggies.

The Antonio Perkins show or the UCLA game, whichever you want to call it, also made the list. 277 yards and three scores on seven returns to break two NCAA records was amazing. I remember walking back to the car after the game and some UCLA fans were bad mouthing us when an OU fan said “If you guys didn’t have a dumb *** for a coach you would have quit punting to Perkins way before the third return for a touchdown”. That was pretty much the end of that conversation.

But my favorite game of 2003 was the Alabama game. Tuscaloosa ranks second, only to Notre Dame, for the friendliest fans. My oldest son and I took off on Friday and drove to our friends’ house in Florence, Alabama. They are transplanted Okies and OU fans so it’s all good. Upon arrival we chowed down on some seriously great steaks (don’t tell Paul McCartney) and then visited a while before going to bed. Up the next morning and off to Tuscaloosa. We got there several hours prior to the game but never went to the Game Day set but instead visited the Bear Bryant museum. I had been once before in 2001 but my son had never been so I went though it again with him. The stadium was not nearly as loud as I figured it would be and even less so when Blake Ferguson threw the pass to Michael Thompson on the fake punt, for a first down. You could feel the air go out of the stadium and what little air was left disappeared on the next play as Jason White hooked up with Brandon Jones for a TD. It was a great win in tradition rich stadium. After the game, as we were driving back to Florence, the people calling into the radio station about the game had nothing but good things to say about OU and our fans and to a person said they hoped that we could continue the series in the future. I really thought a lot more highly of the Bama fans after experiencing a game there.

[Sooner24]

24,

Thanks so much for this effort. It brings back so many (mostly) happy memories.
My first in-person game was OU 45 Texiz 0 in '56 and I've been a rabid Crimson n' Creamer ever since.
My favorite over-the-radio game was the '75 Mizzou tilt. My dad (RIP) was an MU grad and we listened to the game together as we sipped cognac and savored some fine cigars on the back porch of his home. COLD!!!
He was joyously anticipating victory when Joe W. cut loose for the winning TD and extra points. Well, he had just lighted a fresh (smuggled) Cuban and, sad to say, Pop stood, threw it down, and did a tap dance on it. Oh well.
(Not trying to be a wise-arse, but it's "tickets for SALE", not "sell". And "better THAN", not "then". 'K?)
I hope you'll chronicle the Sooners' achievements for years to come, including a few more National C'Ship seasons.
Thanks again,

LF


Man your old. ;)

I was one year old when that game was played.

The way I type and spell it's a wonder I didn't have "Tickets for sail" :O

[LoyalFan]

Man your old. ;)

I was one year old when that game was played.

The way I type and spell it's a wonder I didn't have "Tickets for sail" :O

You are most gracious, Sir, most gracious indeed.

Yep, my dad, the long-suffering UofM Tiger, had only himself to blame for making me a Sooner. After all, he took me to the '56 stomping of YooTee because he wanted me to "take an interest in something besides girls, fishing, hunting, and the trumpet". Hey, I was only thirteen. There was time.
Two weeks before the Old Cannoncocker (I was born at Ft. Sill) died, he called me to his side and forgave me for two things; Being an Armor officer instead of Artillery like him and being a rabid Sooner.
RIP, Colonel, and thanks for the gift of making me a Sooner.

24, my best to you and yours.

LF

[PLaw]

24,

Thanks so much for this effort. It brings back so many (mostly) happy memories.
My first in-person game was OU 45 Texiz 0 in '56 and I've been a rabid Crimson n' Creamer ever since.
LF

Sooner 24 + Loyal Fan,

My first game was the '71 GOC - Dad got us into the stadium with Sherriff's passes, but that's another story.

Considering your vast Sooner knowledge, how many National Championships do you count that we came within one play or one game from winning since 1970.

Here are my thoughts:

1971 - the play, Jack Mildren over throws Harrison in the waning minutes of the game. The shuckers didn't have a db within 10 yards and it would have easily been a TD. Big 8 finishes 1-2-3, only time in NCAA history one conference finished with the Top 3 slots.

1973 - the game, SUC. Don't know what it is, but we have always had trouble with the SoCali boys.

1977 - the game, OB and the Holtz hog ambush. Had OU one, it was thought there may have been split polls. Too much partying on SoBe for Barry on the boys.

1978 - the play, Billy fumbles on the shucker 3-yd line cementing a Little Red victory. OU would later pound the huskers in the OB, but the eastern media gives the MNC to Alabama.

1979 - the game, T-sips slip by the 'bone with a 16-7 win.

1986 - the game, Jimmy's 'Canes in the OB. It was painfully clear athletic defenses had passed the 'Bone and it was on it's way out after being the sexy offense for almost two decades.

1987 - the game, an OB classic with the 'Canes.

2003 - the game, OU defense spots LSU 14 points in the Sugar Bowl. Despite a notable comeback, LSU defense was too much. Had OU won, the BCS would have been in a total tailspin after the Big XII debacle.

Your thoughts??

BOOMER
PLaw

[soonervegas]

I have one:

1984 Season - 1985 Orange Bowl vs. Washington

Although OU is 9-1-1 and BYU has completed a perfect season, AP voters are asked before the game how they would vote if OU beat UW by 14 points or more. The majority of voters state they would pick OU as National Champion if this scenario unfolded.

It wasn't meant to be as OU kicks a field goal to go up 20-14, but are penalized for the schooner coming on to the field. After that it is all UW as they go on to beat us 28-17.

[stonecoldsoonerfan]

I have one:

1984 Season - 1985 Orange Bowl vs. Washington

Although OU is 9-1-1 and BYU has completed a perfect season, AP voters are asked before the game how they would vote if OU beat UW by 14 points or more. The majority of voters state they would pick OU as National Champion if this scenario unfolded.

It wasn't meant to be as OU kicks a field goal to go up 20-14, but are penalized for the schooner coming on to the field. After that it is all UW as they go on to beat us 28-17.

we were badly outcoached in that game. they played a 2-5 on defense and had us confused all night. same story for our defense. tony casillias, by his own admission, was confused basically all night as to what they were trying to do.

[Sooner24]

2004

Once again there were several games that could be number one in 2004. The Nebraska game with its crazy ending. Maybe the Big 12 Championship game and the beat down of the Buffs. The K-State game with Mo Dampeer wearing a helmet two sizes too small and it coming off after every play. But for 2004 it would have to be the Texas game and the 12-0 shut out.

Adrian Peterson running for 225 yards and ripping off the big gain on his first carry of the game set the tone. The defense was outstanding and no other team shut Vince Young down like this crew did. Five in a row is pretty special.

[Sooner24]

2005

2005 was a strange season.

When we lost to TCU it came out of nowhere. UCLA thumping us pretty handily was unexpected. The best Texas team I have ever seen put a major whipping on us so as strange as the season was I guess I will pick a strange game for my favorite game of 2005.

Baylor.

Funny how Baylor could ever be a favorite game but this one makes it just by the fact it was the 250th OU game I had attended. Going to the game that day I never dreamed that we would have to go two overtimes to beat the Bears. Typing this today I still can’t believe it. When Baylor scored on a 55-yard touchdown pass with 1:17 to go and then made the two point conversion to tie it all I could think of was we were going to lose to Baylor on my 250th game. After the first overtime I was still thinking the same thing. After the game was over I don’t ever remember feeling so drained. It wasn’t pretty but somehow the Sooners pulled out a victory for my 250th game.

I started this thread last year and it was suppose to be 1972-2005 but I never got around to finishing it before the season started so I will go ahead a do a 2006 season favorite game later.

[IndianJack]

Re: Tillman's leap of '83.

I was eight years old "cartwheeling" through the living room at about a 6.7 on the Richter scale when I stopped dead in my tracks because some man on TV in a Sooner uniform was flying through the air like somekind of superhero. I asked my parents who that guy was and they told me, "that's Spencer Tillman, and he's making everybody forget about Marcus Dupree."

[IndianJack]

1984

What a precursor to the events in Oregon. That Texas game was the oddest bunch of officiating up until the Duck-saster. The Texas officiating could at least try to blame rain and a dark field. Anyway, in an Orwellian turn of events, that Oregon ****e took me back to that sickening feeling from 22 years back in rainy Dallas, (like some kind of Leary induced flashback) and I screamed into the air of my living room,and to whatever guests were listening, about how the NCAA must have gone back in time to find officials these days. After '84 Texas I thought it could not get any worse. Alas, it was happeing all over again.

Strangely enough the Orange Bowl against Washington with the unsportsmanlike call was just as perplexing to a boy just getting initiated to the concepts of fair play and to being a lifelong Sooner fan. Stupid horses.;)

"Doesn't anybody care about the rules? This is not 'Nam. There are rules." Walter Sobchak

[IndianJack]

1985

Who can still hear Keith Jackson's call of Keith Jackson's reverse run?
Here's what I'm hearing:

"It's Jackson... The tightend... On a reverse to the outside... He's got blockers down the sideline... He's got one man to beat... He's runnin' outta gas... Touchdown..."

Considering that run seemed to last forever (he really was runnin' outta gas), there had to be more play-by-play to it than this. I just repeated the whole thing in my head with Jackson's voice and uncanny knack for the dramatic pause and it could be right on. Anybody with a link to the highlight?

24, this memory lane stuff is primo nistalgiano.

[IndianJack]

2005

Would probably have to agree with you on Baylor. Perhaps for no other reason than I had been out of work all week with what seemed like bubonic plague. I dragged myself to the upper deck wandering if I would make it the top or just ending up rolling back down to the bottom, bouncing off the concrete before landing in a mixture of Disani and corndog condoments.

Hoping to avoid as many people and prospective bowling pin-like obstacles, I got up to stumble back down the ramp when it seemed that we had El Oso Baptiste in hand. Just as I reached ground floor and made it out the gate without any casualties, Gute drops the ball. :eek: followed by :mad: The PA's announcement sent me into a panic of being faced with the predicament of getting back in and climbing that babylonian ramp or running to my car to listen to the old mezzanine guys from "the muppet show" (this is why I love Bob and Merv) as the Sooners exercised the fighting spirit of these "never say die davidians." My sickly running (somewhere between a crawl and a sprint) to my car probably put people in mind of "the muppet show" as well. Why do we run so funny when we're sick. Maybe it's just me.

I vowed that my first early exit would be my last. And I also had to take the next week off from work, too. The sprint/crawl used up a whole 6 days of available energy.

[IndianJack]

2004

That Texas A&M whirl wind at Kyle Field was really something, too. I was put in mind early of '02 Alabama because of the trickery and it coming from a Francione coached team. Revelie could have been calling plays for the aggies because we looked like a Pop Warner club trying to stop the fake kicks and so on.

I remember being ready to concede the game and our NC chances when my sister suggested we hit some more buffalo wings for some wizardly Sooner Magic. With a forehead bathed in sweat we watched them plow back behind the legendary performances of one- armed AD and gimp-stricken JW.

One of my favorite Sooner comebacks.

[Sooner24]

2006

The 2006 season may have been as strange a season as I ever seen. On the other hand it might have been one of my favorites. We started out months before the first kickoff with the news Bomar and Quinn had been kicked off the team permanently. With that Paul Thompson switched from back from wide receiver to quarterback. The only other start of his career ended in a lose to TCU so there were a lot of questions going into the season.

The first game of the year was not one for the record book as we beat UAB 24-17. The highlight of the game was a 69 yard screen pass that AD took to the house for a 21-17 lead. It was not pretty but it was a win.

Next up was Washington and a 37-20 win. Washington wasn’t very good but they were better than UAB so it a good win.

It was off to Eugene and our third meeting with the Ducks in three years. If not for the screw job and the lousy fans this might have been my favorite game of 2006. My youngest son and I met up with a couple of friends that flew a different airline up and head to McMinnville where we got to go inside Howard Hughes, Spruce Goose. Next it was off to the Pacific and some sight seeing. We hit the coast at Lincoln City and stopped to eat dinner at Mo’s. We sat and watch otters playing in the ocean while dining on some knock dead seafood. After dinner we headed south down the coast. Breathtaking is the only way to describe some of the scenery we saw. We drove as far south as Newport before heading to Eugene. We got to the Hilton and checked in around 9 PM. The next day it was off to the game. Three things, the stadium is not that loud, on the PA before halftime they had to beg people to come back after the half and the fans make OSU fans look like winners. After the screw job we walked back to the Hilton and drove back to the coast for some more sight seeing. We drove to Florence and then north up the coast. We went as far north as the Heceta Head Lighthouse State Park. The Pacific at sunset is awesome.

Back to football.

My favorite game of 2006 is the Texas Tech game. Sort of like the 2005 Baylor game being my favorite, Texas Tech in 2006 makes the list by virtue of it marking 35 years in a row without missing a home game. We trailed Tech 24-17 at the half and just like the Baylor game I wondered if the game that would mark 35 years in a row might end up being a lose. In the second half the Sooners came out and scored 17 points while shutting out the Red Raiders for a 34-24 win.

To end up winning the Big 12 Championship, playing with a backup quarterback, the screw job in Eugene, without AD for most of the season and to play in a BCS game with all of that was incredible. I think this might have been Bob Stoops best coaching job ever just to keep this team together. I also want to mention Paul Thompson who is one of the classiest guys that ever donned an OU uniform. We could use a whole team of players with his character.

Well this marks the end of my 35 year journey down memory lane. In that time I have witnessed 4 National Titles, two Heisman winners, Butkus award winners, Lombardi winners and numerous All-Americans. I have seen two 20 plus game winning streaks, and a season that we didn’t win a single home game. I have sat through monsoons, blistering heat, sub-freezing temps and days that the weather was perfect. I have a program and the ticket stub from every game I have ever attended. My wife said if the house ever caught fire it would go up like a matchstick from all the paper. The Texas Tech game was the 260th OU football game I have seen and maybe, just maybe, I have another 260 games left to see.

Somehow I doubt it.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my ramblings as much as I have reliving them.


BOOMER SOONER!!!!

[IndianJack]

"One last thing about 1987. If Jamelle Holieway doesn’t tear his leg up in the OSU game we beat Miami, in my opinion, even playing in their backyard."


Completely agree. JH's hanta yo was much bigger than CT's.

[Sooner24]

2007

I figured what the heck I might as well do 2007.

Since I am not going to the Fiesta Bowl and I am only doing games I have seen in person here we go.

The OSU game was a lot of fun just from the standpoint it was OSU and the "Greatest Offense in the World" was shut down too not even being the "Greatest Offense in the State" made it a memorable game.

Everyone was excited about Miami coming to town and it would have been great if both teams had played like it was 1985/86/87. The hype just didn't live up to the final score.

Colorado might have made the favorite game if not for the fact we didn't realize that games are 60 minutes even in the mountains.

Tulsa was a fun trip and I had a great time at Dean’s soonerfans.com tailgate but it was just Tulsa on a Friday night so it didn't make my favorite game.

So my favorite game of 2007 had to be Missouri at home. I believe this was the loudest I had heard the stadium since the 2000 Nebraska game. When the 4th quarter stated and we were behind I wasn't sure if we were going to win but the Fock was rocking and I don't think anyone sat the whole fourth quarter. The Sooner's played as well in the last stanza as they had at anytime this season and overwhelmed the Tigers. Missouri can say they gave it away but the fact is we took it from them.


See you after the 2008 season. ;)

I attended every home game of the season to make it 36 years in a row without missing a home game. That is a total of 209 home games in a row and 269 games total, home and away, since I attended my first OU game.

[Soonersince57]

'75 was my freshman year at OU and I ended up there because I wanted to be in the Pride and go to the Orange Bowl. After sweating bullets through the close games with Miami, Colorado, and Texas, things were looking good. (At the hotel the night before the Texas game, I came into the room and one of the band girls was asleep for some reason in our room. She looked good laying there, but . . . that's another story.:rolleyes: )

Later, Kansas came to town and we turned the ball over at least 8 times and I think those were on consecutive possessions. I was devastated going off the field that day as I could just hear my mother lecturing me about why I should have attended one of the Oklahoma directional schools with a scholarship rather than going to OU (where tuition was a whole $12.25 an hour). Anyway, after the Missouri excitement and Washington's run, we creamed Nebraska and I remember getting creamed myself by an orange as we were playing on the field after the game.

So I got to go the Orange Bowl after all. Just before pregame we were on the sidelines and heard about Ohio State losing. The whole atmosphere changed. There wasn't a lot of offense that night, but especially for Michigan as they could do very little against the Selmons, Jimbo, etc.

Then there was the girl the night before the '76 Nebraska game :) I'll just say it was very cold outside. Who says band guys are geeky?

[76soonergrad]

1975


It was my senior year. There were a lot of great memories in that season. One game not mentioned yet was against Pitt.

David Wannstat was on their offensive line. They had a running back named Tony Dorsett..This was when his name was pronounced with the accent on the first syllable.

We won 40 something to the teens. 48-10? What I remember was Tony D's unimpressive rushing. He had multiple carries for less than 20 yards. Our defense was the best. I'm biased, but I think it was the best ever in those years.

--And then the next year Tony wins the Heisman. Go figure.



Our student tickets were on the 40 yard line. Oklahoma OWNED the '70s. Live on University.








___________________________

[German Corner]

Mr. 24, that's great stuff. Those years were magical. I was 14 and those Saturdays couldn't get here fast enough even though all I could do was listen to Mike Treps call and John Brooks color on the radio.

Joe's punt return was the best of all time and it just kills me that the game was not broadcast for replay. The film available isn't bad but what if Joe's special runs and returns were made with modern technology available.

Archie Griffin is the only 2 time Heisman winner only because of the tv ban.

[Sooner24]

I went back and figured up how many wins, loses and ties I had seen since I started going to the games. In that time I have seen 211 wins, 55 loses and 3 ties. That works out to .7899 winning %. I have not figured out the wins and loses for home, away and neutral site games yet.

[Sooner24]

Well the 2008 season has come to a close for me since I am not going to Stoolwater, the Big 12 championship game or the National Championship game. With that said I will now pick my favorite game of the 2008 season...............the envelope please.................and the winner is.........................TEXAS TECH!

Tech come on down and say a few words. What’s that you say you can't be heard over all the crowd noise? Well that's okay I will just say a few words for you.

Texas Tech said that they would like to thank the voters for the 2008 Sooner24 Game of the Year Award®. It was a hard fought battle to win this highly coveted award and we will treasure this award and put it in our trophy case right next to all our Big 12 football championship trophies.

If we had lost the Tech game I already knew my favorite game of 2008 and that would have been the Washington game. Without a doubt the best true away game trip I have ever taken. Better than Alabama, Notre Dame, Air Force or all of the Big 12 schools where I have attended games. If you missed the trip to Seattle I truly feel sorry for you because we may never make our way back there again. That was my first trip to Seattle but it will not be my last.

The Texas Tech game was without a doubt the most electric crowd I have ever witnessed in Norman and I can not imagine any crowd acting like that at any game prior to me going to the games starting in 1972.

If you paid for a seat Saturday night you need to get your money back because it probably wasn’t sat in very much if at all.

The total domination for a game that was suppose to be close was unexpected and I give the crowd a lot of credit for this.

Well that concludes the awarding of the 37th annual 2008 Sooner24 Game of the Year Award®. We will see you all back here next year.

[olevetonahill]

I went back and figured up how many wins, loses and ties I had seen since I started going to the games. In that time I have seen 211 wins, 55 loses and 3 ties. That works out to .7899 winning %. I have not figured out the wins and loses for home, away and neutral site games yet.

Slacker :D
spek Bro

[Sooner24]

Slacker :D
spek Bro

It's never to late to start your own streak. ;)

[Lott's Bandana]

Where's Bill?

You here yet?

Charlie Bravo iz in da fourumz, posting his posts...

[yermom]

that's not that hard of a choice... that Tech game was the best game in years

Saturday marks 66 straight for me, i'm hoping to get to 69 this season :D

anyone know where Phil is now?

[Sooner24]

that's not that hard of a choice... that Tech game was the best game in years

Saturday marks 66 straight for me, i'm hoping to get to 69 this season :D

anyone know where Phil is now?

I think Phil is up to 5,472.

[olevetonahill]

It's never to late to start your own streak. ;)

Bro Ive been Going to Games since 73 .
Just had to work and Raise a Family which kept Me from Streakin :D

[Sooner24]

Bro Ive been Going to Games since 73 .
Just had to work and Raise a Family which kept Me from Streakin :D

I have always been fortunate that I never had to work or was sick on a Saturday of a home game. Started taking my boys when they turned five and have been taking them ever since. When I went to that first game in 1972 I never dreamed that 37 years later I still would not have missed a home game.

[olevetonahill]

I have always been fortunate that I never had to work or was sick on a Saturday of a home game. Started taking my boys when they turned five and have been taking them ever since. When I went to that first game in 1972 I never dreamed that 37 years later I still would not have missed a home game.

You do Have My spek Bro . Aint No way I can Live Long enough Now ;)

[Sooner24]

You do Have My spek Bro . Aint No way I can Live Long enough Now ;)

I thought OVJ was from the fountain of youth? ;)

[olevetonahill]

I thought OVJ was from the fountain of youth? ;)

Its the fountain of somethin alright :D

[Sooner24]

Well, before today I didn't know if there would be a game worthy of the 2009 Sooner24 Game of the Year Award® but thanks to Mike Gundy and crew OSU wins in a run-a-way. If we had won in Lincoln that would have topped the list since I had never seen us win there and I still haven't. A win in Miami would have put them in the running but again they eliminated themselves by beating us. It came down to one of six home games and The Poke's made it easy for me. Not only did we derail any hopes they had at making a BCS game but we shut them out in the process. I just wish there was some way I could award the 2009 Sooner24 Game of the Year Award® to Mike Gundy in person but that would probably mean going to Stoolwater so it ain't gonna happen. It's been a rough year but 2010 is a new year.

[Sooner24]

Well since I'm not going to the Fiesta Bowl I will now give out the 2010 Sooner24 Game of the Year Award®.

Didn't go to any away games this year (went to Green Bay to watch the Packers play instead) and stayed home for the Big 12 championship game so I only had six games to pick from.

After the Utah State game I wasn't sure we would win 7 games. But the next week against a pretty good Florida State team we looked like a BCS team.....hey wait a minute we are a BCS team! I was sure hoping that Bobby Bowden would get his one more year so I could have seen him coach his first year and his last year but it wasn't to be.

So with without further adieu I present the 2010 Sooner24 Game of the Year Award® to the FSU Seminoles. I hope next year I can award it to them again since I am planning to go to the game.

Next year will be a milestone year for me. With my seventh game I will have been to 300 OU football games both home and away. And if I don't miss a home game it will be 40 years in a row.

[soonerbub]

That's awesome. This was the first year since 1998 I wasn't able to make at least 1 game (stupid work :mad:)

[olevetonahill]

Bump for Every Sooner Fan who missed this the 1st time around.

[yermom]

this past season made it ten years for home and Texas games for me

not quite 40 though :eek:

other than having to pull an all-nighter at work before BGSU in 2004, i haven't really had too many conflicts so far. got really lucky this year with ISU getting moved though

[texaspokieokie]

i was mostly impressed with "24" shaming the folks into not leaving early. only a "true Sooner fan" can shame others into staying for entire game.

maybe they had a long drive home, like back to Elk City or Wichita.

(in his 1st favorite game, 73)

thanx a lot for the bump Vet.

[Sooner24]

I did a little research and learned I have also seen 13 Heisman Trophy winners in that time.

Good Lord willing I will hit 40 years of home games without a miss and my 300th game over all this year.

[olevetonahill]

I did a little research and learned I have also seen 13 Heisman Trophy winners in that time.

Good Lord willing I will hit 40 years of home games without a miss and my 300th game over all this year.

Allsome
Ima prolly stay at the Legends again this year.

Had a great time last year.
Now that i think I got My Picture deal workin Ill try and Post some more of em.;)

[Jdog]

1974

been a roof on Owen Field it would have been blown off that day. Then again if there had been a roof I wouldn’t have had to sit in the rain all day.




............Joe Washington fields a punt on around the OSU forty-five yard line and the adventure begins. Joe disappeared into a pile of orange jerseys, in front of the OU bench and everyone started to set back down. Then all of a sudden out pops Joe. I am about half seated and leap to my feet, slipping on the ice, and falling into the person in front of me. It dominoed down about six or seven rows one person falling onto the person in front of them. My dad grabbed me pulling me back up all the while I never took my eyes off of Washington. After that it was all down hill as the Sooners ended up rolling OSU, completing its first undefeated season in almost 20 years.

After the game, in the car on the way home, my dad and I talked about what a great year it had been and how we couldn’t wait for the next season to start. Well the next season started but I would never share another game with the person that made me fall in love with the Sooners.


Very great - Cheers to you and your dad!
- that Joe Washington return happen right in front of me - me and my buddy were setting with Chaz Evan's family. It was great! That return reminded me of his return against USC - when he didn't get the Touchdown.

[Salt City Sooner]

I believe it was Gerry Gdowski.
Joseph was the NU QB in '90 (replaced by Mike Grant after his injury). Gdowski was the QB in '89, & he ripped our secondary & pretty much made 'em like it that day.

[NMSooner'80]

Very great - Cheers to you and your dad!
- that Joe Washington return happen right in front of me - me and my buddy were setting with Chaz Evan's family. It was great! That return reminded me of his return against USC - when he didn't get the Touchdown.


My mom went to OU at night to get a Master of Library Science degree - so we had family season tickets in '73 and '74. That OU-0SU game was the last of those games we got to attend on that family plan together.

We were in the south end zone seats, freezing our butts off (it was cold and windy out of the north), so I had a great view of the punt return. It was an epic moment. I'll bet that Aggy punter Cliff Parsley's ankles are still hurting over being turned into a spinning top by Little Joe's moves.

I was only a junior at Ardmore High at the time, so I wouldn't have normally had access to the OU Daily. But my mom did on her commute to Norman, and the game coverage featured several sour-grape comments from the Pokes. I hated Phillip Dokes to the hilt after some of his quotes. Between that, and an earlier trip to Stilly with a buddy whose sister went to OSU and whose family had tickets for that OSU-Colorado game, I learned early on about that penis envy of theirs.

I've told that story before - I went because I was invited, and because OU was on the road, and the locals acted like the CU game was their chance to gloat on ABC about how we weren't on TV that year. I think even their players bought into the "we're going to show up OU" mindset, and they got just WORKED by an Colorado team that OU had beaten 49-14 in Boulder.

[JLEW1818]

i love this thread.. great reads, thanks for sharing

[SoonerofAlabama]

These are some good stories indeed.

[Sooner24]

These are some good stories indeed.

You would think someone would want to interview me. ;)

[70sooner]

The hit was made by Scott Hill on a Missouri player returning a kickoff. He came down the field full speed and just wiped the guy out.


I still think his hit on Dorsett was one of the best I ever saw, period. Knocked the snot out out of Tony D......

[Sooner24]

Well it's that time of the year again, time for the 2011 Sooner24 Game of the Year Award®.

Since I don't plan on going to Stoolwater I will go ahead and announce my favorite game of the year. This year’s winner of the 2011 Sooner24 Game of the Year Award® is........Florida State!


This game ranks right up there with Alabama and Notre Dame for the friendly fans we encountered in Tallahassee. It also ranks right up there in crowd experience. From the time we landed in Tallahassee we were pretty much overwhelmed with kindness. From the shuttle drive that took us to the hotel, to the hotel staff, (want to give a big shout out to The Hotel Duval and Shula 347 Grill) to the FSU fans that kept coming to our table to tell us how glad they were we were there and what a great time they had in Norman the year before.

What I really liked about the stadium was the fact it holds as many people as ours does and there's no upper deck. From the pregame intros until pretty much the end of the game the crowd was chanting and chopping. Even after the game leaving the stadium never really heard any rude comments and even had people congratulating us on the win and wishing us good luck the rest of the season. Great experience!

The ISU game Saturday marked the 40th year in a row without missing a home game dating back to the first game of the 1972 season. It was also my 301st OU game attended.

See you next year!

[Sooner24]

The 2012 Sooner24 Game of the Year Award® goes to OSU!!!

I was beginning to wonder if Florida A&M was going to win the award until Saturdays game. ;) In the 41 years I have been attending OU football I have only seen a couple of things that I had never seen before in Norman. One was the goal post coming down after the 2000 Nebraska game. That's the only time I have ever seen that at Owen Field. Saturday night was only time I have ever seen the whole stadium erupt in mass celebration. When Clay cross the goal line it was pure pandemonium. OSU wants to think it's because they "have arrived" but you have to win to have actually gotten where you want to be. To Mike Gundy, Robert Allen, and all the other little brothers, just chalk it up to another Poke moral victory. I'm pretty sure you have the series advantage in those. :chuncky:

On a side note Saturday was my 307th OU game and 41st year in a row without missing a home game.

[MyT Oklahoma]

^^ Congrats. That is a world of great memories.

[cleller]

Remember the signal light on I-35 in Moore? Hard to believe there was once a red light on I-35. I remember a grad school teacher telling me the interstate ran all the way from Canada to Mexico, and that was the only stop light.

What a distinction.

[Sooner24]

^^ Congrats. That is a world of great memories.

With many more to come I hope.

[Wishboned]

This is a great thread. Thanks 24.

[Sooner24]

This is a great thread. Thanks 24.

Glad you enjoyed it. :)

[Sooner24]

In an unprecedented move I am going to name my favorite game of the year before the season is even over. There is no way that anything can top last Saturday in South Bend. We can win a NC this year and it still would not beat out the joy of seeing our team beat Notre Dame for only the second time in our storied history. The setting, the game, the weather, the fans was all over the top. We stayed in the stadium, for what must have been an hour after the game, just soaking in what we had just witnessed. I have been to over 300 OU games and this was top 5 without question and if I were to think about it for a while maybe even higher. After seeing us lose there in 1999 I wasn't sure if I would ever have a chance to see us play there again. Thankfully I did!

[Sooner24]

Quick update. After attending the Iowa State game last month I have now gone 43 years in a row without missing a home game.

[Breadburner]

Good Job....Thank you for the stories.....!!!

[C&CDean]

Good on ya Greg. One of these days you'll be getting the framed jersey and stuff down in the end zone at half-time.

[picasso]

Was it '80 or '81 when we beat UNC at home? That was my first OU game I can remember, my bro in law took me at the age of 10. They were #6 and I think we were #16. I remember David Overstreet.
Good stuff!

[yermom]

that Notre Dame game seems like forever ago now

we had some killer road games this year

we may have gotten some of the Notre Dame monkey off our back, but it was sure nice reminding OSU where they stand too :D

[Sooner24]

Was it '80 or '81 when we beat UNC at home? That was my first OU game I can remember, my bro in law took me at the age of 10. They were #6 and I think we were #16. I remember David Overstreet.
Good stuff!

1980. That team featured "Famous Amos" Lawrence and the real Lawrence on that team Lawrence Taylor.

[Sooner24]

Well this season was a huge disappointment but I was able to pick my favorite game of the year and that would be the trip to West Virginia. Flew into Pittsburgh and stayed across the street from PNC park. Caught a Pirates game on Friday night and drove to Morgantown Saturday morning. The people were really friendly early on then the 20 something's got slouched later in the afternoon and now I understand why they are inclined to burn couches and overturn cars after victories. All the 30-60 year old crowd pretty much as a group told us how happy they were to be in the Big 12 and told us they were glad we made the trip. Wasn't to impressed with the campus but the stadium was nice enough and the game was exciting. Looking back that was a big win, just ask Baylor, and probably our best played game of the season.

After the last game of the season I have now attended 324 OU football games and 43 years in a row without missing a home game.

With the talent we return I'm expecting better results next year.

[yermom]

i made all of the home games again, barely. at least that streak is still going. up to 14 years now.

and the Kansas game was the bright point for me. dang, i hope we can keep enough of a team around that kid.

[Sooner24]

My game of the year, that I personally attended, would be the TCU game. What looked to be a blow out early turned into a nail biter. Next years home schedule looks to be loaded with Baylor, Ohio State and osu coming to Norman.

[yermom]

I'm going with Stillwater. Wish I could have made it to Waco.

The end of the TCU game doesn't get old to watch though.

Who taught our defenders to put their hands up? I haven't seen this many batted balls ever.

[OklaPony]

I'm going with Stillwater. Wish I could have made it to Waco.

The end of the TCU game doesn't get old to watch though.

Who taught our defenders to put their hands up? I haven't seen this many batted balls ever.
Lon Kruger.

[cvsooner]

With the talent we return I'm expecting better results next year.

Now that was quite a prediction, as it turns out.