Tag: Sooner Schooner

Sooner Schooner one of USA TODAY Sports best college football traditions

The traditions are what make college football and Oklahoma has one of the best in all of the land.

It’s finally here. It’s finally “football time in Oklahoma!” We’ve waited for nearly eight months to get to this point. To sit down with our friends or family and watch college football all weekend.

One thing that makes college football so great is the traditions and rivalries that come with it. On Saturday, if you’re an [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] fan and going to the game you will see one of those iconic traditions on full display.

Led by Boomer and Sooner, the Sooner Schooner comes running out of the tunnel, circles a quarter of the field, and heads back to the tunnel after every score. The first time seeing it is one of the coolest things in college football.

[autotag]USA TODAY Sports[/autotag] listed the Sooner Schooner as one of the best in the sport’s history.

The Sooner Schooner — The replica of the Studebaker Conestoga wagon that is the symbol of the University of Oklahoma is one of the best-known images in college sports. Powered by two ponies – Boomer and Sooner – the wagon first appeared at a football game in 1964. It rides on the field after scores, taking a circuitous route from one of the tunnels and back. Most of the time, the celebration goes swimmingly, but there have been a couple of instances where it has broken down and also famously drew a penalty for riding on the field too early in the Orange Bowl in 1985. – Eddie Timanus, Erick Smith, and Paul Myerberg USA TODAY Sports

Sure it hasn’t always had its best moments, but when everything go right, it is part of what makes being a Sooner fan so great. It’s part of what excites the fans to see their Sooners take the field. It’s one of the most iconic on-field experiences in the sport.

It’s what makes college football.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Sooner Schooner named one of USA TODAY Sports best Big 12 traditions

It’s why we love college football. The team traditions, the family traditions, the rivalries and everything else in between.

It’s why we love college football. The team traditions, the family traditions, the rivalries and everything else in between.

Chances are you are a fan of a team because you either went to that school or your dad was a fan, because his dad was a fan, because his dad was a fan. The colors run through your blood.

The University of Oklahoma has many traditions. From the Sooner Schooner to the drum major tilting back, marching down the field before the game to the chants of “Boomer” from one side, with a response of “Sooner” from the other.

There are so many to choose from, but USA TODAY Sports chose one to be in its Tier 1 of traditions in the Big 12. That tradition is the one you see after every Oklahoma score.

The Sooner Schooner — The replica of the Studebaker Conestoga wagon that is the symbol of the University of Oklahoma is one of the best-known images in college sports. Powered by two ponies – Boomer and Sooner – the wagon first appeared at a football game in 1964. It rides on the field after scores, taking a circuitous route from one of the tunnels and back. Most of the time, the celebration goes swimmingly, but there have been a couple of instances where it has broken down and also famously drew a penalty for riding on the field too early in the Orange Bowl in 1985. – Erick Smith USA TODAY Sports

It’s simply one of the best. Not only in the conference but the entire nation. It’s one of the few places that still uses live animals.

I remember my first time seeing the Sooner Schooner as a 6-year-old boy on the half the Schooner runs out on. It was one of the coolest things I had seen, and the crowd was going nuts. I remember being mesmerized, but that soon changed to fear as it turned to head back up the tunnel, thinking a major catastrophe was about to happen.

But of course, the RUF/NEK handling the horse and his passenger duck right before they reach the tunnel and head up the ramp.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been fooled by that the first time. I mean, I was only a child.

Traditions like that are why we love spending our time at Owen Field on a Saturday. It’s why we are anxiously anticipating the start of the 2023 college football season.

Most importantly, it’s why we love college football.

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

During Bedlam, the first woman to drive Oklahoma’s Sooner Schooner happened

Bedlam ended up being a blowout, but that didn’t stop history from being made. The first female to drive the Sooner Schooner

Bedlam ended up being a blowout, but that didn’t stop history from being made.

The Ruf/Neks-Lil Sis group has been around since the 1960s. They work to get the crowd pumped up during the game, shoot their old-school shotguns after scores and the end of quarters and drive the historic Sooner Schooner around the field before the game and after scores.

The Sooner Schooner has been driven for 57 years at Oklahoma. It has only been driven by men.

That was until last Saturday night.

Darby Dean became the first female member of Ruf Neks/Lil Sis to drive the Sooner Schooner.

“Crazy,” Dean told ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe. “It’s the most indescribable experience ever. I wish I had words to answer the question but I don’t. It’s just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Lil Sis became a part of the Ruf Neks in 1973. There are as big of a part of the Oklahoma football experience as anyone.

“If anything, it made me appreciate our history so much,” Dean said. “We’ve come so far since 1973 when we were founded and just to see us here today in 2020 and the strides that we have made in the past few years is amazing. Just makes me so proud and proud of our club.”

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WATCH: Oklahoma’s Sooner Schooner runs for first time since crash

The RUF/NEK’s and Lil’ Sis’ trotted the Schooner out just in time for Oklahoma’s playoff run for the first time since October. 

“We’re baaaaaaaaaaaack.”- Sam Ehlingher, Sooner Schooner

The RUF/NEK’s and Lil’ Sis’ trotted the Schooner out just in time for Oklahoma’s playoff run for the first time since October.

After a brutal crash during the West Virginia game, the Schooner was retired for the season and would only serve as a ceremonial piece.

But just like the Sooners’ playoff odds, the Schooner is not dead yet. Although the University is looking for a professional wagon builder for a new Constanoga Wagon, the RUF/NEK’s ran the ponies one more time.

With No. 11 Oregon’s win over No. 5 Utah, last night in the PAC-12 Championship, the winner of the Big 12 title will likely move into the fourth and final spot in the College Football Playoff, giving the game a CFP quarterfinal feel.

No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 7 Baylor has just kicked off and exchanged punts on each of their first drives. You can stay up to date with the scoring blog here, see our live thoughts here, and follow along with us on Twitter @soonerswire.

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