An Oklahoma Story in Texas

I recently had a discussion with a colleague that was deja vu all over again of a conversation with my father. While reading this, you may feel the urge to tune me out, scroll down, or simply move on to your next web-surfing page. However, despite the subject matter of OU vs. OSU that I am about to discuss, I believe there is a deeper idea here that warrants mental explorations on multiple fronts. Without further ado, I begin...

As I remember it, an Oklahoma State graduate drunkenly approached me, slovenly placed his arm on my shoulder and eloquently blurted out towards my chin, "Norman sucks Stillwater's balls!", or something to that effect.

I offer the preceding slight tale of fiction to illustrate the barriers school loyalties can present when in normal, run-of-the-mill, daily situations. The true story was that I was at a happy hour with a broadcast sales rep. As we got to know each other, it came out where each of us went to school. My Sooner background prompted him to poke light-hearted fun at me since he is an Okie State Cowboy. Quickly, and without hesitation or apology, the converstation escalated from football to grander debate over which town was better.

Let's pause for a moment. I repeat, we debated about which small Oklahoma city, Norman or Stillwater, took the cake. We weren't hammered by any stretch of the imagination (although I'm sure either of us might claim as such when retelling the story to our alumni pals). I look back on it now and realize the futility of the great debate of yesterday's proceedings, but in the heat of the moment and for the next several hours, I was convinced I had won a key battle in the Bedlam war for the crimson and cream.

I think that this would have been an open and shut case if not for one man: Boone T. Pickens. Our battle started as a small skirmish about the money Pickens has been pouring by the oil barrel-full into the athletic (but ultimately football) program at OSU. As my collegue touted this fact, I conceeded that yes, Pickens is in the process of buying a semi-pro ameteur football team. The stadium is wonderful, the training facility is great, the practice fields are top of the line. The problem OSU still has and can't change is the that it all resides in Stillwater. Sure, the glitz and glamour of new, nice things (and surely some under-the-table player payments) will draw top athletes to the Cowboys' program. But not forever.

I contend that Pickens will turn OSU into a perennial top-25 football team for about a decade, maybe a little less, before the whole thing implodes. The key word here is "implode" -- not "explode." Just like modern-day Miami, 80's Oklahoma, or what's rapidly becoming the standard at Texas, money doesn't win by itself. It attracts talent, but not quality individuals. Those quality persons have too much intelligence to fall for that trick. OSU will recruit and pay great athletes to rural Stillwater, and after a while lawlessness will prevail. Players will continually get into trouble. OSU will win, but not consistently enough to challenge for anything close to a national title. Eventually, the new items Pickens has put in place will dull and rust. OU will have new and nice things as well (not to mention a prettier and more convenient town and campus). The athletes considering OSU might turn their heads more sharply to OU, or leave the state completely. OU will have more intelligent players already there since OU, except for stints in the 60's and 90's, has always been a perennial top-10 team.

I'm rambling, aren't I? It's a dull arguement unless you are a complete sports nut. Which is OK, except I'd like to see more of you engaged in this piece. So, I digress... My collegue and I soon find ourselves debating the merits of Norman versus Stillwater. In all fairness, I haven't seen a great deal of Stillwater in my lifetime, though I have seen enough to know I don't want to see a great deal of the town. We got to debating the cultural opportunities, the educational opportunities, the economic opporunities, the quality of inhabitants, and even whether Norman was more of a suburb of Oklahoma City than Stillwater.

I look back upon last night now and think of what a waste of time in which we engaged. I left believing I had won the arguement. I mean, between defending Norman or Stillwater, I still know that Norman is the infinitely easier town to defend. At the very least, the debate moved away from sports to more imporant topics.

There is no real reason to present this piece to you except to say that, well, I came away from the conversation with a new respect for OSU. Not to say that I think any higher of their athletic program. But it's a realization that there is plenty of opportunity everywhere. Just look at my collegue and I as we have this discussion from the comfort of a bar patio in Dallas. We're both now in a place with far more opportunity than either of our college towns or it's mother city of Oklahoma City.

The lesson I take away from it is to have perspective. I'm Sooner born and Sooner bred, but I will not let that fact blind me to the real world. I see all too often people who come from a singular place, latch onto it and build a wall to defend themselves from the world. There is opportunity everywhere if you just open your eyes and take a look around once in while.

There you go. I hope I didn't bore all you non-sports maniacs out there. And to you sports maniacs, keep some balance in your worlds. On that note, I'd like to point out that just because you're 40 doesn't mean you're a man.