When last seen on the field of play my school's football team, the Oklahoma Sooners, ran up and down the turf at the Rose Bowl, scoring 48 points against the Georgia Bulldogs. It was a truly impressive showing against a defense which in the minds of many, especially those located in Georgia, was one of the best in the land. Unfortunately the rules of the game dictate every now and then Oklahoma must also play defense and no one, but no one, ever claimed OU's defenders were skilled, or strong. In fact there were credible observers who often wondered if they were even there.
Indeed, the season long game plan in Norman last year appeared to be, Let the other team score quickly so we can get the ball back as often as possible. We'll simply out point the sons of bitches.
It was a strategy which worked out most of the year, but led to game tallies which looked like they were more in keeping with 1950's high school basketball scores. That was the case in Pasadena last January. The contest ended during the second overtime after Georgia scored their final touchdown and claimed a 54-48 victory.
All of which leads us to tomorrow, September 1st, 2018. At 11:00am, Oklahoma will open a new football season when it plays Florida Atlantic University. There will be nearly 85,000 people in attendance. Every single one of them will be, to quote Wild Bill Shakespeare, ready to charge, "Once more into the breech." This despite not a few of their number suffering hangovers from Friday night in 90 plus degree heat, while many others are present after downing staggering amounts of 3.2% beer and, or a few Bloody Mary's rather than plates of bacon and eggs.
That's right, for the hard core it matters not the weather, or the time of day, it is the spirit of the occasion which counts.
Of course such debauchery won't be confined to the areas immediately surrounding the University of Oklahoma campus. As the college football season opens in earnest tomorrow hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Americans will flock to stadiums coast to coast while participating in rites and revelries that would stun the ancient Romans.
Okay--maybe not stun since we no longer have our gladiators kill each other and the wild animals serve only as school mascots, as opposed to combatants--but they'd certainly be impressed by the spectacles and numbers.
I have no problems with any of this. How can I? My father took me to my first OU football game when I was five years old. At the time they hadn't lost since I was three and wouldn't until I was seven. I've been going, with only a few exceptions ever since. When I walk into the stadium tomorrow it will be for the 63rd year running.
I'm not naive about the nature of a sport based primarily on speed and violence. Conversely, I'll never make excuses for it, or apologize for my love of it. I understand perfectly American football, more than any other team endeavor, is a metaphor for war. There is no other way to describe it. You can hear tomorrow's broadcasters even now, Merv the Sooners have driven deep into Florida Atlantic territory, taking advantage of the FAU weak defensive line. That's right, Toby, so far the OU air and ground attack has been perfectly coordinated.
No, I'm as fine as I have ever been with football itself. What has become bothersome is how the games are increasingly becoming mere sidebars to massive pre kickoff and half time displays celebrating faux patriotism and overt nationalism. In fact at times, it seems like I've stepped straight into a Donald Trump campaign rally carefully planned and coordinated by the ghost of Albert Speer.
It has become so surreal we're just lucky no one is issuing MAGA hats in the aisles. Although if this drift keeps up it is easy to imagine some day soon there will be ICE agents at every gate demanding to see proof of U.S. birth. Why not? They seem to be every place else these days.
Of course, thanks in large part to the price and availability of tickets, the vast majority of the crowd in Norman is probably in favor of just such a move. The truth is the demographics of an OU home crowd are so skewed to the right, God only knows what would happen to some poor soul who decides to take a knee during the National Anthem. I personally avoid that particular problem by leaving my seat just prior to its playing, joining the mob beneath the stands where even the most ardent right wing trolls pay absolutely no attention to it.
Yes, there are no patriots in line at the concession stand. Just those who want their fucking hot dog before the coin toss.
Well, all of us have to put up with the bad to get to the good don't we. As Hal Linden's TV character, Barney Miller used to say, "You have to keep things in perspective."
Hey, some have to deal with long lines for nachos and the like--others have to put up with the people in them and their politics. It is, in the end, the burden each of us must bear for a seat and the season.
Next stop, Section 108 in the west upper deck.
8-31-18
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