THE 108th EDITION OF OU-TEXAS / PART 1

TEXAS 36

OKLAHOMA 20

 

PART 1

The Not the Game Part  



"You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning" -Celia Rivenbark

It was just a strange day...but at least it started too early.

For the fifth time in the last six years, the game was selected to be broadcast nationally, which means kickoff once again was at 11 a.m.   Look, I have no problem having a cocktail or seven before McDonalds will even sell you a McRib combo, that's not really the issue.  Hell, I majored in that back in college.  The problem with the early kick is the limited window of time it provides for 90,000 people to arrive at Fair Park.  If you don't want to get caught up in bad traffic or for some reason you don't feel comfortable parking your Lexus in the front yard of a crack house located more than a mile or so from Big Tex...then you need to get to Fair Park by 8:30. Which we did.

But arriving early can also have its adventures.  The State Fair of Texas opens at 8:00 am on OU-Texas game day. Arriving by 8:30 will almost guarantee you the rare yet unwelcomed opportunity to observe how a few State Fair carnival employees spend their mornings.  It has been my experience that nothing will make you revisit your pop tart like watching a 'carney' and his significant other give each other spit baths prior to inserting their teeth. I just gotta say...if that doesn't make you want to floss, then nothing will.

Then there was the weather last Saturday....simply put, it sucked.  One minute it was nasty, humid and hot and then the next minute it was nasty, humid and miserably hot.  Saturday, with both the temperature and the humidity in the mid 80's, Fair Park felt like a giant deep fried crimson and orange tropical rain forest...except with a ferris wheel.  

Needless to say, it was even worse inside the Cotton Bowl.  Once wedged into my seat, I got to spend the next 3 1/2 hours sweating like Mike Tyson at a spelling bee and listening to 45,000 tea-sippers chant OU sucks.  God, I love college football....

But regardless of what time the game kicks off, what kind of weather must be endured or who wins; there is always one good thing I can count on at OU-Texas...and that is the people.

One of my favorite things about the weekend is getting to see some old friends who I haven't seen since the previous year...or maybe haven't seen in years.  Sometimes the game can feel like a mini reunion. 

 Like most, I find it hard to comprehend how fast the years are passing us by, stunned by the fact that it has now been 25 years since I somehow managed to graduate.  It may only be for a moment or two, but getting to see people like Jana Rae Love, Michelle Williams Davis and Rob Roberts (just to name a few) reminds me of how blessed I feel to have an annual event like OU-Texas that ties me to my past; a time and place to reminisce past memories all the while creating new ones.

The OU-Texas game is always fun, even when the Sooners lose, but the weekend is truly special...and that is something I will get up early and sweat all day long for...anytime.

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