Welcome back, college football. Finally, there will be something on TV on the weekend, and I can put aside my weed whacker on Saturday afternoon for the sofa and remote control.
College football begins this weekend, and “my” team is ranked atop every opinion poll as the one to beat for the national championship.
My team? The University of Oklahoma, of course. That’s where Son Two attends and where we send financial contributions each semester; thus my affection.
The Sooner Nation is rabid. Once I mentioned OU on my Twitter account. A dozen Oklahomans suddenly started “following” me to keep up with one of their kind.
My team of record, of course, is Western Carolina University, and I’m still waiting for the Catamounts to resurface after many years in the cruel shadow of Appalachian State. I’m happy for Boone’s success, but the rivalry has been one-sided of late. To be a true rivalry, each side must win at least once every 10 years.
Rooting for Oklahoma in college football is like rooting for the Yankees in baseball. The Sooners usually win.
Unlike Carolina, N.C. State, Duke and Wake Forest always hoping that this year will be better than last, the Sooners are a perennial powerhouse and always in the hunt for a championship. Longhorn fans says its because OU recruits so heavily in Texas. Sooners say they are actually doing mission work there.
Robert again is playing piccolo in the OU marching band, entitling him to a front row, 30-yard-line seat at every home game and a bus ride to many of the away games. He and the rest of the band bounce like Duke University’s Cameron Crazies through much of the game when they aren’t playing. Last year, the band played the OU fight song more than a thousand times. Someone counted.
There was a time when he didn’t care for football. Then it came time to pick a college. Following his father’s wisdom, he narrowed his choice to the best academic school with the best football team. The OU marching band became his new family away from home.
Oklahoma faithful are scattered abroad this nation. Son Three was wearing one of Robert’s OU shirts inside a little pie store in northern Virginia this summer when a shopper approached.
“Do you go to Oklahoma or did someone give you that shirt?”
Michael wears that shirt frequently now in hopes of …