Boomer Sooner!

*I had already written this post for today when I went to Kelly's blog and she was talking about football season too.  Great minds think alike...or at lease Southerners think alike!*

Yesterday was the start of football season!  We watched the Saint Louis Rams because my favorite quarterback was playing, Mr. Sam Bradford.  Sam was drafted this year and is the former quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners, our favorite team!  He's also Native American and from the Cherokee Tribe. My husband really likes him because he's Indian just like him.  I even think my hubby and Sam look alike!

 
I get so excited this time of year because it's college football time! When you live in Oklahoma, football is the most important sport!  Well, that's really true anywhere in the South. The boys and I are fortunate enough that when I met Mr. Hautemama he had Oklahoma University season tickets. 

I have to give a little background about it though.  One of the first things Mr. H asked me after meeting was where I graduated.  I told him Oklahoma State University (OSU) and he replied, "Well, I'll overlook that."  I asked him why and he told me that he was a huge Oklahoma Sooner (OU) fan.  A week after we started dating and when we both knew it was going to get serious pretty fast, he even went as far as telling me he needed to talk to me about something.  I was scared he was going to tell me something really bad.  He sat me down and told me that he buys OU season tickets and he would prefer that I not complain about the money, because it was important to him. He said it jokingly but I knew he meant it.  I remember thinking "Holy moly, this guy takes his football seriously!" If you know anything about Oklahoma University football, you know that you have to purchase season tickets every year, whether you use them or not. There is a multi-year waiting list.  Mr. H was just warning me that it would be a constant purchase, no matter what.  To this day, seven years later, we actually have a waiting list of people who want to buy our tickets from us.

The irony of this is....I was raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma, home of OSU, from the time I was two years old until I was twelve.  OSU was my family's life and OU was the mortal enemy.  I wasn't even allowed to wear red, I had never been to Norman, home of OU and I would never have wanted to go to a game growing up. 

After Mr. H and I had been dating for a couple of weeks, he asked me if I would go to an OU football game with him.  I told him I would think about it and immediately called my Dad to tell him the dilemma.  Should I go into enemy territory???  My Dad told me I would have fun and I should go for the experience. 
 
Reluctantly, I agreed to go. I was falling pretty hard for him and figured as long as I was with him, I'd have a great time.  We had spent nearly everyday together since we met.  The day after I agreed to go, he took me to the mall and bought me an OU t-shirt so I could wear it to the game.  I picked out a white one with a teeny, tiny OU on the front. The smaller the better, I thought.

When we got to the game, I walked into the stadium and my first reaction was, "Oh my gosh, this must be what it's like to have a winning football team!"  The stadium was huge, probably three times the size of OSU's.  I was stunned.

The whole atmosphere at OU, from walking to Campus Corner to get a drink, to the Sooner Tent where they have forty different restaurants and you eat and drink for two hours before the game, to the band, which I loved, was so electric.  It was fun watching everyone and feeling the excitement in the air.  I had never experienced anything like it.  I slowly started enjoying the game and by the end, I was so glad I had agreed to go. 

The Sooner Schooner comes out everytime OU makes a touchdown.  It's led by the cutest ponies named Boomer and Sooner.

The boys at their first OU game - 2004

I still love OSU, it's where I grew up for many years and where I went to school but I ended up marrying an OU football fan with season tickets. One thing about me is...I love college football more than anything.  I really don't like NFL but college is pure excitement!   We buy the tickets and then have to sit down and figure out which games we'll sell to friends and family.  Having two boys in soccer makes it a real juggling act.  

I'm so glad I agreed to go the first game because it's become such a wonderful family activity.  We can't wait until Fall every year and watching the excitement on the boys' faces melts my heart.