The Red River divides Texas and Oklahoma some 90 miles north of Dallas. Texas - Land of Land, and land, and land. Oklahoma - western end of the "Trail of Tears". After "The Removal", Oklahoma is home for the Five Civilized Tribes, among them the Seminoles of Florida. Only renegade 'Noles led by Osceola remain in Florida. Well, that's another story for another time.
Today the Trail leads to Dallas, to the Texas State Fair, to the Cotton Bowl. Modern day natives of Oklahoma have found this trail again one of tears more than not. As you all know by now, 1999 would prove no exception to that rule, as the Sooners returned home in their modern-day SUV Prairie Schooners, losers of the border war, 38-28. Stop. I get ahead of my story.
Saturday dawned perfect: a cool and partly cloudy day. Our weather man though promised, then delivered upon, a sunny and very hot football afternoon. Locals later said it was a humid day. Those of us from Tallahassee nodded our allowance, thinking they should understand humid. Our great hosts, Ted and Sally Grant, prepared and executed a wonderful game day plan so we could enjoy the Red River Shootout.
After a light breakfast, we (Saint Daddy and Momma) participated in the ceremonial setting of a Sooner flag at the Grant's homestead in Flower Mound, Texas, The Red and White OU banner with black trim replaced a Dallas Stars Stanley Cup Champions flag, if only for the day, and unfurled in the light breeze and by then bright sun. For sure a Sooner day.
The Sooners are a passing team this year. This a product of new coaches Stoops and Leach imported from the wild SEC. Historically, Sooners run. So on the way to the state fair grounds, Ted showed us a native Sooner's incredible ability to run. He popped his Crown Vic to the outside, passed hundreds of stalled soon-to-be fans from the outer lane, then ducked back to the middle to hit each freeway exit. Ted's ability to find the hole and make open space where there apparently was none, has to be talent born, not made. Only a few have the ability to anticipate, accelerate, cut, stop, and dart again to make this game plan work. Ted has this talent. I thought, if OU could move in traffic like their home-bred fan can, my predictions for a Sooner upset had a real chance.
Ted finished this drive with one more power move. He moved in tight, faked left and cut right, passed an orange cone, and entered an apparently off-limits lot immediately across the street from the main entry gate! The owner accepted Ted's offer to pay to park as far easier than turning the Crown Vic in tight quarters and escorting us out. Score one for Oklahoma. I knew it was to be our day. Surely the Sooners would win!
Our ticket to the Shootout, $40 at face, valued upwards to $400 as game time approached, also served as passage to the Texas State Fair. We entered the Main Gate to a tailgate party like no other I have seen. Of course, there's the official host, Big Tex, whose open arms welcomed a few hundred thousand of his closest friends to the party. Lots of Red and White, and Burnt Orange and White. By the way, you 'Gator and Vol' fans have far better shades of orange. The Longhorn version appears to come pre-faded. About half the fair-goers seem dressed for the big game. The others seem oblivious to football. You would see people holding hands high, with differing numbers of fingers pointing to the sky, hoping someone actually wanted to sell their game ticket. Most looked to be giving up hope, as though they were tired hitch-hikers about to give up for the day. Wonder if many got in?
This place is big. What did you expect? It is Texas. We met up with Ted's brother Gary and wife Rose at the appointed place, with a big assist from their cell phones. How did we live with out them? Then we began to stroll. Off to the south is "The world's largest Ferris Wheel". There are many huge exhibit halls, including one devoted to the latest year 2000 schooners from GM, Chrysler and Ford. Ang and I headed there for a look, as Kevin's car is dying. Still another story.
Sally and Ted headed out in another direction to see other sights. Sally returned with a new red Sooner straw hat and a sparkly "O-U" painted on her cheek. Tres chic and more ready than ever for the game! No doubt where this fan's allegiance lies this day!
More strolling and exploring. We saw a dog show in progress in one building. Then leather goods and fine jewelry on display. And there are crafts. We saw the blue ribbon winning quilt. Wonder what price it would bring? What a place to kill time before the game.
Hungry now, we toured the endless food courts, where fifty-cent coupons are redeemed in a variety of quantities for a seemingly endless supply of tailgate cuisine. Each pair found different treats. Ang and I settled on Philly cheese steaks, nachos, and cold sodas. Others had BBQ turkey legs, salads, and funnel cakes. There were hot dogs and sausages that must have been two feet long! Well, we were at the fair!
For Ang (Saint Momma) and Rose our pre-walk was probably the day's highlight. For Ted and Gary, both OU alums, you could see their pre-game jitters starting to peak. That's all they could stand. Time to enter the famous Cotton Bowl. The fans were streaming in. We were ready too.
For sure this bowl was state of the art. Was state of the art. Gary remarked about the recent renovations and how the bowl has been made more modern and pleasant. I figured this made about as much sense as trying to say it was a humid day. It was hot, but not that humid, and the Cotton Bowl may be nicer, but it's not that nice.
We found our seats in Section 10, Row 16, right on an isle. Actually, these proved to be great seats. We were in the south west corner, perhaps forty feet from the west end zone. Great sight lines. Few obstructions when seated. This proved to be totally unimportant, as standing sight lines were the only thing that mattered. Nobody sat much, except for time outs, or to change film in a camera.
Gary had purchased our seats from a Texan. That's no doubt why they were in the western half of the bowl, which was 99.44% pure Longhorn Country. Ted, Sally, Gary and Rose, in their official Sooner game day garb, were easy targets for the raved (rabid too I suspect) Texans. Ang had donned a Sooner shirt, and I played the chicken in my plain white shirt and golf cap with the South Carolina moon and Palmetto tree on it. Nobody knows South Carolina in Texas. As we gazed far to the east, we saw the Red sea half of the bowl. Ted's binoculars allowed me to confirm the ratio of misplaced Orange in the Red field was about the same as our misfortunate placement among the Burnt Orange hoards.
Bands, fanfare, anthem, and finally kick-off! Loud! Very Loud!
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Note from the Webmaestro:
I can't be certain, but from Saint Daddy's description of the strange OU formation, it
appears that Stoops and or Leach have imported Steve Spurrier's tricky Emory & Henry
formation. The Big Twelve won't know what hit them. |
OU took the kick, and ran to its 33. Short pass and long run to the Texas 33. Short pass and great RAC for a score! OU up 7-0 in 29 seconds. Whoa! Texas goes three and out. Lousy punt to mid-field. OU snaps several times, mostly short passes mixed with runs. Drive stalls. Snap, place, kick. Good. 10-0. Texas mounts a drive. Stalls. Snap, down, kick, wide right. OU mixes runs with passes. Moves up the field. Mike Leach is calling a wide open SEC game plan. OU splits trips right and left, with only a center, two guards, lefty Josh Heupel, and a running back Michael Thornton in the middle of the field. Is this fair play? Only a penalty slows the drive. OU punts. Texas is stunned, but recovers to mount a decent drive. Stalls. Texas hits a field goal. 10-3. OU takes the kick and returns to about mid field. Heupel mixes passes and Michael Thornton runs. Fade pass to right in front of us. TD. It is 17-3. Ted and Gary are beside themselves. Longhorn fans around us are quiet for the moment. Could it be this easy? Well, no.
Period two turns the game. With no special thanks to Major Applewhite, who played a very mediocre game, the Longhorns retaliated. This period, and most of the rest of the game, belonged to number 3 in Orange, Hodges Mitchell. Who was that Texas running back last year? Ricky somebody? Anyway, he is gone. Hodges has the dodges, and the dashes, and enough of the strength to help Texans concentrate on a new day. They have their running back back. The burnt orange sweater still has the 3. The 4 is gone. Just the 3. We saw it for 204 relentless yards. Hodges Mitchell won the game. By half time the score was 17-17. Texas dominated the third and built its lead to 38-17. OU spurted to 28, but you knew the end was near.
Summary? OU never made a big defensive play. They finally recovered a fumble with the game put away and an exhausted Mitchell twisting for two more yards. The highly-touted Heupel threw many ill-advised passes, two that were easily picked off, that ended drives that should have buried Texas in the first half. In the last 45 minutes, Texas defense got up off the turf and dominated. They made great adjustments, shutting the OU passing game down. Major played okay I guess, but Texas really has only one receiver of note, number 9, Kwame Cavil. He mixed in some passes, but they won with their O and D lines, and with Hodges Mitchell's running.
So the old Cotton Bowl has a few great moments left as long as Texas and Oklahoma fortunes ride high. Or at least the teams are equal. They were well matched this year. This was a very loud, and at times nasty crowd. The only real rap I have on Texas fans, other than their taste in clothes, is they need some new cheers, Their positive cheer is the complex, "Texas - Fight - Texas - Fight!". Their favorite cheer is, "O-U Sucks!" They do this cheer in several tempos, but not much imagination. I suppose if we had sat in the Red and White east end, we would have heard equally innovative chants from the Sooner faithful.
All in all, attending the Texas State Fair on Red River Shootout day is great. The spectacle and event are well worth one's time on a hot, yet not really muggy, fall college football afternoon. Thanks Ted and Sally. We had a great time!!! --Saint Daddy
The Red River divides Texas and Oklahoma some 90 miles north of Dallas. Texas - Land of Land, and land, and land. Oklahoma - western end of the "Trail of Tears". After "The Removal", Oklahoma is home for the Five Civilized Tribes, among them the Seminoles of Florida. Only renegade 'Noles led by Osceola remain in Florida. Well, that's another story for another time.