...And the home of the SOONERS!

This morning I have been thwarted in my attempt at an 18 miler. Stupid Oklahoma weather, it has been a constant battle for me while I've been training; the ice, the wind and now a giant all-day (possibly two-day) thunderstorm. Part of me wants to wait until it dies down and then step out, but on a 3h+ run I could wind up more than an hour and a half away from the house if it comes back and with the possibility of not only being hit by lightening but also pummelled by "dime-sized hailstones" and even the possible tornado to "Dorothy" me away this doesn't seem like a wise plan. Perhaps I'll try it on the treadmill later this afternoon but just the idea of that long on a treadmill sends me into a stupor.

So, now that I'm all awake and filled with my pre-run coffee and breakfast I thought I may as well make use of the time and tell you all about the OU women's basketball game. I could tell you about the men's basketball too but frankly they were rather pants and the women have just won the Big 12 Championship thingamies which just proves I am right in my assessment of their greatness.

I was lucky enough to get tickets to The White Game where we played Texas A&M and were given free t-shirts. We unfortunately went on to lose but it was a nail-biting finish and one exciting game!

Anything Texas represents a bitter rivalry in Oklahoma and although this wasn't our arch-enemy the Texas Longhorns (which results in a football game so fierce that neither home ground can host the game and Sooner fans have been known to actually have the Texas Longhorn logo tattoed upside-down on themselves) the team had the word "Texas" on their shirts so 'nuff said.

Somehow Amanda and I wound up in the student seating and these students mean business and never sit down. So for the next couple of hours we were forced to join them in standing and yelling and joining in the cheers...

When we first arrived the band was already playing and most of the spectators had on their t-shirts (the t-shirts are white and the audience is supposed to wear them so that the whole auditorium is a "white out"). In fact people that weren't wearing their t-shirts yet were picked out by the White Out Cam and shown on giant TV screens with a message telling them to "put on your shirt" . The band was playing my now favourite OU chant as we arrived (and continued to do so throughout the game), it's the tune of that (Possibly KLF) Dr Who song with the "Hey!" in it and goes something like this...

(Dr Who) O!.....
(Dr Who) U!.....
(Dr Who).....We're gonna beat the hell out of you!

It was pretty awesome, especially with the accompanying gestures demonstrated with much vigour by the cheerleaders (one of whom I have myself convinced is actually Larry the gay football player from early seasons of Buffy). Then the crowd settled down for the pre-game National Anthem which was possibly my favourite thig of all, apparently I've been mistaken all this time; it's not "The land of the free and the home of the brave" it's the home of the Sooners of course, I don't know how I could have been so stupid!

I just have to say that I think that basketball might be my new favourite American sport, and this was possibly even the most exciting sporting event that I have ever been to in my whole life (sorry dad, yes, even more than that Braga match you took me to when I was about four and the people behind us told me to stop waving my flag) though perhaps I was just caught up in all the headiness of the cheers. This definately beats football though, with all its silly stopping and starting and swapping of teams depending on whether they're being defensive or offensive. Here it was just 5 (they did substitute though) tough girls battling it out, only stopping for the briefest of time outs while the cheerleaders took the court and entertained.

I wish I could give you a play-by-play account of the game but it was a little while ago now so I don't really remember. Mostly what I remember is the tension of those women running up and down the court shooting and getting baskets (and then missing a little too often too), the excitement of yelling a lot and lifting my arms up into O and U shapes as I yelled and occasionally being very cross at the referee, the worry that one of these times those male cheerleaders was going to drop one of the girls and there'd be a terrible mess but most of all it was feeling like I had a team and I was going to cheer for them dagnammit!