Boomer Sooner!
Let me start out by saying Happy New Year! Hopefully 2018 will start out with a big win in the Rose Bowl for the Dawgs, followed up with a trip to Atlanta for the National Championship game! It has been 37 years since UGA played in and won a National Championship. I was a freshman at the University of Georgia back in 1980 when we beat Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day 1981 to be crowned National Champions. I love to tell people that from my freshman year in 1980 I didn’t see the Dawgs lose at home until the LAST game of my senior year when Auburn beat us 13-7. That’s just another reason I will always hate Auburn!
This year, I’ll be in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl when my Bulldawgs meet The University of Oklahoma Sooners for a chance to play in the National Championship game. This is the first ever match-up between the two teams and it takes on a special meaning for me. Both of my parents were born and raised in Oklahoma and graduated from The University of Oklahoma, a.k.a. OU. I grew up a big OU fan. As a kid, I wore OU football t-shirts while my buddies all wore UGA shirts. As a senior at Glynn Academy, I applied to four schools: OU, Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt and UGA. Chapel Hill and Vanderbilt quickly let me know I was barking up the wrong tree, so to speak, so it came down to OU and UGA.
Unlike today, it wasn’t quite as difficult to get into UGA. Looking back, I can’t remember exactly why I decided not to go OU. I knew I wanted to major in journalism and UGA has an excellent journalism school, so maybe that played into the equation. That, plus the fact that my sister was attending Vanderbilt at the time, which I’m sure was a considerable financial obligation for my folks. In fact, my mom said that when she and my dad received the first tuition bill from UGA for me, they thought it was missing a comma because it was so cheap compared to Vandy! There’s something to be said for staying in state!
My sister married a Bulldawg, and since the two teams have never played each other, as a family we have never been forced to choose sides when it comes to OU vs. UGA. When it was announced that we would be playing OU, my mom texted me to say that since 1980 she ALWAYS pulled for the Dawgs, but will of course be pulling for OU come New Year’s Day 2018. The people of Oklahoma love their football as much as we do here in Southeast Georgia!
I’m planning on meeting up with some of my cousins at the Rose Bowl, and I’ll be thinking of my favorite “aunt” Joanie Fox, who was a huge OU fan. She attended OU from 1953-1957 and never saw her Sooners lose during her entire time in college! At the end of her funeral a few years back, as a tribute to her, the entire congregation sang the Sooners fight song. So, Joanie, this one’s for you:
Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner
Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner
Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner
Boomer Sooner, OK U
I’m a Sooner born and Sooner bred
And when I die, I’ll be Sooner dead
Rah Oklahoma, Rah Oklahoma
Rah Oklahoma, OK U!
