It’s October…and that means one thing to me: OU/Texas. I don’t care about watching a leaf change color before it falls off a tree and dies. Until United Nations Day is recognized with a day off, my excitement for it will continue to be minimal. This is my birthday month, but those are overrated…unless of course you aren’t having them. Halloween?…never been a fan. October is OU/Texas…and Saturday will mark my 29th consecutive year of attending the game. Thought I would take a look back at my OU/Texas history…by the numbers
1- My first OU-TX game was in 1982. I was sixteen years old. The cost of gas was $1.20. Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger was topping the charts, E.T was number one at the box office and the top rated show on television…why Dallas, of course.
2- Number of times since 1982 that the two teams ended the game with the score knotted (1984/1985). Ironically, it is the same number of times I have tied the knot during the same…proving that whether it’s the game of football, or the game of life…when it comes to ties…nobody goes home happy
3- The yard line the Longhorns were on when Texas QB Major Applewhite connected with Wayne McGarrity for a 97 yard touchdown pass in 1998. It is also the same number of OU fans still sitting in the south end of the stadium by the time McGarrity crossed the goal line.
4- The number of pork chop sandwiches I ate at the OU/Texas game in 2003
5- The longest win streak by either team (OU 2000-2004) in my 29 year consecutive game streak
6- The number of touchdowns scored by Sooner RB Quentin Griffin when the Sooners beat Texas 64-14 in 2000.
7- The number of coupons you need to buy a warm beer in a waxed paper cup at the State Fair of Texas
8- The number of vowels you would have to buy if you were trying to spell the name of former Sooner DB Chijioke Onyengecha on Wheel of Fortune.
9- The number of combined head football coaches for the two teams since 1982.
10 – Jersey number of Peter Gardere, Texas Longhorns QB (1988-91). Nicknamed “Peter the Great” by Longhorn fans, Gardere remains the only starting QB from either team in the 100 year history of the series to win 4 consecutive games against the other team. Not sure, but OU may have even been favored to win all four. Still have nightmares about Gardere throwing to the Cash brothers.
11- As in 11 A.M. kickoff. Who is the asshole TV network executive that thinks this is a good idea?
12- The row my seats are on in section 103
13- The number of times the Sooners have won since 1982. It is also the same number of times the Longhorns have won since 1982
14- The number of different variations of red, crimson and maroon that you will see Sooner fans dressed in at any given OU/Texas Game.
15- The average number of teeth found in the mouth of a State Fair of Texas carnival worker.
16- The number of different dates I have taken to the OU/Texas game in the last 29 years. None of which would go again on a bet.
17- The over and under number on how many beers I will drink on Saturday
18- The jersey number of Sooner QB Troy Aikman. Aikman was the starting QB in the 1985 OU/Texas game, a game won by OU 14-7.
19- The age of OU freshman student John Tyler Hammon. Why this might not seem interesting to you, maybe the fact that he is also the recently elected Mayor of Muskogee might be.
20- The jersey number of former Sooner LB Rocky Calmus. Calmus, with his right wrist in a cast, picked off Texas QB Chris Simms and returned it for a TD in the 2000 game.
21- The jersey number of Darrell Royal when he was an All-American….at The University of Oklahoma. Nice to know that UT has named their stadium after a Sooner
22- Marcus Dupree, Quentin Griffin
23- Big Tex wears Dickey jeans with a waist size of 23”
24- The number of days the State Fair of Texas runs every year
25 – The number of times in 106 meetings that the Sooners and Longhorns come into the game undefeated.
26- The number after 25
27- The average dollar amount you will spend on the Midway because some guy who hasn’t bathed in a week is challenging your ability to toss a ring around the neck of a twelve year old Shasta bottle. Your reward for getting lucky on your ninth throw? A lime green stuffed animal of non-descript origin so large that it requires a game ticket. It took you 30 minutes to win the thing, and about five minutes to get tired of carrying it around. Eventually you will set it down next to the funnel cake stand because you can’t even give the f-ing thing away. But hey, you showed Frank the Carney that you are nobody’s ring toss bitch.
28- Adrian Peterson
29- The number of times that I have gone to the game saying to myself, ”I want the Sooners to win this game more than any year I can ever remember”
Boomer Sooner - Beat Texas
Just the Opinion of One Mildly Interested Guy
Buddy Putty
The Overweight Armchair Sooner
