THE RED RIVER RIVALRY!

Its that time of year once again, the second Saturday in October, the State Fair of Texas, the sounds, the smells, the feel of fall in the air... yes boys and girls-- its TEXAS- OU weekend!

For those of you that are new to the area, allow me to give you a little insight to this little annual shindig... Its the Sooners for Oklahoma University going up against the University of Texas Longhorns in a battle that dates back to the early 1900's... it has been played inside the famed Cotton Bowl since 1932-- prior to this, the two schools played home and home games.

What makes this game so unique and considered to be one of the top five rival games in the country?

Pure-- unadulterated HATE! Yep.. I used the word HATE! Sooner Nation despises anything that wears BURNT ORANGE-- and Longhorn fans can do without anything in Crimson!

Back in the day (we are talking a mere 30 years ago) the tradition of the Friday night revelry was to walk up and down Commerce Street in Downtown Dallas, flash the upside down 'Horns if you were a Sooner Fan or the Hook 'EM Horns sign if you were a Texas fan-- then the fights were on-- usually ending up with someone going to jail and losing their tickets to the game because they couldn't make bail in time to make the kick off!

Many stories about how the bonfire at the end of Commerce street would start and then end up with the Fire Department coming in and putting out the flames before they reached buildings- (though this is more myth then fact)... though in those days-- at the hour of midnight-- water trucks would be seen coming down the streets to spray the party goers to indicate that the Party Was OVER! and to disperse from the area!

Now there are planned pep rallies around the Downtown area, as well as other locations in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.. its a little more sedate and calm, but the fun times of those early days-- thats what defined Texas-OU!

The game itself, prior to 1996 the game was a non conference game-- since Texas was in the Southwest Conference and Oklahoma was part of the Big 8... after 96, this became a conference game when the two conferences merged to create the BIG XII... This game still has the same intensity as it did during the early years.

Players who have played in this game, will tell you that the feeling that they get standing in the tunnel of the Cotton Bowl, before they run out onto the field, there are no words to describe it. The hair on your arms and the back of your neck rise up-- the sounds of 90 thousand fans screaming and the sounds of your fight songs being played by the bands-- the chants of BOOMER-- SOONER-- or TEXAS!!! FIGHT!!! is heard throughout the stadium-- the 50 yard line acts as the Red River itself, as half the stadium to the north is bathed in Burnt Orange and the other half is colored in Crimson! NO other rivalry is this unique, maybe Army- Navy which plays on a neutral site, but this game-- was the granddaddy of them all to be held 3 hours from either campus.

Bragging rights, the chance to know that you beat your neighbor, and possibly have them go on to win a National Title, its been proven on the floor of the old lady known as the Cotton Bowl... Texas snapped a five game losing streak in 2005 to the Sooners-- handing them a 45 -12 defeat-but then went on to run the table and go undefeated and winning the National Championship with a win over USC... however there are other National Championships that were won by Oklahoma under Bud Wilkerson, and Barry Switzer as well as Bob Stoops, it was Darryl Royal that won Three National Championships in the 60's and 70's... and Mack Brown who won the crystal football in 05... the game sets the tone-- it creates the urgency-- and when the dust settles three hours after kick off.. the party starts for one school and ends for the other!

Just to give you some perspective about this game-- and the impact it has on the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, 30 million dollars is spent in hotel, rental cars, restaurant, bar, and club money! YOU saw it right--30 MILLION DOLLARS per year!

Now for anyone that is not savvy with economics-- that's a WHOLE LOT OF MONEY! and if this game were to EVER leave the Cotton Bowl... well you can imagine that we would take a major hit for the second Saturday in the month of October!

Spoke with a local taxi driver in Dallas.. and they informed me that they make their entire year on that one weekend! Imagine just one independent, cab driver-- will make his YEAR on three days! I would say thats a pretty damn good reason to fight and keep the game right here in Downtown Dallas!

So whether you're a HOOK 'EM HORNS or a BOOMER--SOONER... the Red River Rivalry beats them all!

ENJOY!

Just a thought (oh by the way-- HOOK 'EM HORNS!)