The name comes from a shortening of Bethlem Royal Hospital, in Southeast London, the most notorious psychiatric hospital of the Victorian Age. "Bedlam" became a term meaning "uproar" or "confusion."
Before You Go. Oklahoma is part of the Great Plains region. There aren't a lot of trees to shade you or to block the wind. As a result, it gets beastly hot in the summer, and brutally cold in the winter. This will be late November, so cold could have been expected.
However, the website for The Daily Oklahoman is predicting low 50s for Saturday afternoon, and mid-30s for Friday night. So you should bring a Winter jacket.
The entire State of Oklahoma, except for the westernmost Panhandle, which is on Mountain Time -- is in the Central Time Zone, 1 hour behind New York. Adjust your timepieces accordingly.
Tickets. The Sooners get at least 86,000 every home game. The Cowboys are less likely to sell out their 60,000 seats, with only 1 of their 6 home games so far topping 55,000. But this game will sell out.
For games at Oklahoma: All tickets are $55. Oklahoma State, not a longtime college football power like their rivals, charges a lot more: $87.
Getting There. It's 1,469 miles from Midtown Manhattan to Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, and 1,415 miles to T. Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater. Knowing this, your first reaction is going to be to want to fly.
You won't get a nonstop flight. There are any number of cities in which you would have to change planes, depending on the airline: Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, for example. And, this week, it's kind of an expensive flight: over $1,000 at the minimum. And you'd still have to get from there to Norman or Stillwater. Still, flying to Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport and renting a car is still the best options here.
Especially since neither Amtrak nor Greyhound goes to Stillwater. On Amtrak, to get to Norman, you'd have to change trains in Chicago and again in Fort Worth, and you'd still have to get from OKC to Norman.
On Greyhound, the trip to Norman is much shorter, about 40 hours, but you have to transfer at Chicago, Kansas City and Oklahoma City. The fare is $512, but can drop to $343 with advanced purchase. 506 N. Porter Avenue, about a mile north of the campus.
If you decide to drive, it's far enough that it will help to get someone to go with you and split the duties, and to trade off driving and sleeping. You'll need to get on the New Jersey Turnpike, and take Interstate 78 West across New Jersey, and at Harrisburg get on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which at this point will be both I-70 and I-76. When the two Interstates split outside Pittsburgh, stay on I-70 west. You'll cross the northern tip of West Virginia, and go all the way across Ohio (through Columbus), Indiana (through Indianapolis) and Illinois.
When you cross into Missouri, you'll be in St. Louis. Switch to Interstate 44 West, the Will Rogers Turnpike, and take that across southern Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma. Outside Edmond, you'll turn onto Interstate 35 South, passing Oklahoma City, then take Exit 108 A onto State Route 9. The campus is 3 miles ahead on your left.
If you do it right, you should spend about an hour and 15 minutes in New Jersey, 5 hours in Pennsylvania, 15 minutes in West Virginia, 3 hours and 45 minutes in Ohio, 2 hours and 30 minutes in Indiana, 2 hours and 30 minutes in Illinois, 5 hours in Missouri, and 4 hours in Oklahoma before arriving. That's going to be about 24 hours. Counting rest stops, preferably 6 of them, and accounting for traffic at both ends, it should be about 30 hours.
The trip to Stillwater is a little shorter. On I-44, you'll take Exit 34, onto I-244 West toward Tulsa. U.S. Route 412, the Cimarron Turnpike, will split off from I-244, and you'll take that west to the Cimarron Turnpike Spur, and that west to Exit 20A, U.S. Route 177 South. That will take you to the OSU campus. The trip should take an hour less than to Norman.
Once In the City. Oklahoma City, the capital of the State of Oklahoma, was founded in 1889 as a result of the Oklahoma land rush, after the former Indian Territory was legally (if not morally) opened up to white settlers. (As a result, their minor-league baseball team was long called the 89ers.) The name comes from the Choctaw tribe, meaning "red people."
The State House. The statue is called Tribute to Range Riders,
and does not represent any particular person.
The sales tax in the State of Oklahoma is 4.5 percent. ZIP Codes for Oklahoma start with the digits 73 and 74. For Norman, it's 730; for Stillwater, 740. The Area Code for Oklahoma City, Norman and Stillwater is 405. Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) runs the electricity for the State.
ZIP Codes for Oklahoma start with the digits 73 and 74. For Oklahoma City, 731. For Norman, 730. The Area Codes are 405 for Oklahoma City and Norman. The sales tax is 4.5 percent.
Main Street, Downtown Norman
Stillwater was founded in 1884, and was named for a creek that the native tribes called "Still Water." About 50,000 people live there. The daily newspaper is the NewsPress -- not a very imaginative name, and the result of a merger of 2 papers. Main Street divides addresses into East and West, and Elm Avenue into North and South. OSU/Stillwater Community Transit System runs buses, also with a fare of 75 cents.
Main Street, a.k.a. The Strip, Downtown Stillwater
The University of Oklahoma was founded in 1890, right after the Land Rush. Notable athletes, other than the football players to be mentioned later, include:
* Baseball: Joe Simpson, Mickey Hatcher, Bobby Witt and Russ Ortiz. Also broadcaster Russ Porter.
* Basketball: Terry Stotts, Clifford Ray, Wayman Tisdale, Mookie Blaylock, Stacey King and Blake Griffin. Also Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett.
* Olympians: Gymnast Bart Conner (who married legendary gymnast Nadia Comaneci), gymnast Kelly Garrison-Funderburk, sprinter Jason Rouser, wrestlers Dave and Mark Schultz (but this Dave Schultz is not to be confused with the 1970s Philadelphia Flyers goon).
* Sports Journalism: Larry Merchant.
Notable OU graduates in other fields:
* Entertainment: Actors Van Heflin, Rance Howard (father of Ron and Clint, grandfather of Bryce Dallas), Dennis Weaver, James Garner, Alice Ghostley, Larry Drake, Ed Harris and Olivia Munn; music personalities David Gates of Bread and Tom Paxton, Science fiction author C.J. Cherryh, and Miss America 2006 Jennifer Berry.
* Politics, representing Oklahoma unless otherwise stated: Governors David Hall, David Boren, David Walters, Frank Keating, Brad Henry, and Susana Martinez of New Mexico; Senators Boren (his son Dan Boren served in the House) and Tom Coburn; Speaker of the House Carl Albert, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Congressman and former OU quarterback J.C. Watts, and current Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. And, both as a student and a law professor at OU, Anita Hill.
* Astronauts: Fred Haise of Apollo 13, and record-setting (since broken) Shannon Lucid.
Oklahoma State University was also founded in 1890, on Christmas Day, no less. It was known as Oklahoma A&M until 1958. Auburn and Mississippi State also had the "A&M" name early in their histories, and, like OSU, their teams are sometimes still called the "Aggies" to this day, even though Texas A&M is the only major college football school that officially uses that name.
Aside from football players to be mentioned later, their notable athletes include:
* Baseball: Yankee Legend Allie Reynolds (for whom their baseball complex is named), Jerry Adair, Joe Horlen, former Yankee Gary Ward, Pete Incaviglia, Mickey Tettleton, former Met and then Yankee Robin Ventura, Jeromy Burnitz, Matt Holliday, former Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell, Josh Fields, Luke Scott.
* Basketball: Bob Kurland, Knicks star John Starks, Bryant "Big Country" Reeves, John Lucas III, Marcus Smart, and college basketball coaching legends Don Haskins, Eddie Sutton and Bill Self.
In basketball, OU has won the Conference 14 times, most recently in 2005; won the Conference Tournament 7 times, most recently in 2003; won both in the same season (which soccer fans would call "The Double") 3 times, most recently in 1988; reached the Final Four 5 times, in 1939, 1947, 1988, 2002 and 2016; and lost the Final in 1947 to Holy Cross and 1988 to Kansas. Their women's team reached the Final in 2002, and has also made the Final Four in 2009 and 2010. Their baseball team won the College World Series in 1951 and 1994.
OSU has the more successful basketball program, winning the National Championship under coach Henry Iba in 1945 and 1946, with Kurland, known as "Foothills" and "the first great big man in basketball." They also reached the Final in 1949, losing to Kentucky; and also reached the Final Four in 1951, 1995 and 2004, for a total of 6. They've won 19 Conference Championships, most recently in 2004; 4 Conference Tournaments, most recently in 2005; and won both in 2004. Their women's team has been less successful, although they did win the Conference in both the regular season and the tournament in 1991.
What Oklahoma State is really known for is its wrestling program, led by coach Edward C. Gallagher from 1916 until his death in 1940. He went 138-5-4. In his 24 seasons, 19 ended undefeated in dual meets, and 11 ended with National Championships. In spite of all of Iba's successes in his sport, OSU's indoor sports facility is named Gallagher-Iba Arena. That's right: Gallagher has top billing.
Oklahoma State has won wrestling's National Championship a record 34 times -- 7 times since Dan Gable began coaching at Iowa, which may actually be more impressive than the previous 27. Indeed, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame -- and the WWE doesn't have a dang thing to do with it -- is at 405 W. Hall of Fame Avenue, across from the northeast corner of Pickens Stadium and Gallagher-Iba Arena. Their last title was in 2006, but that capped a streak of 4 straight. Their current head coach is John Smith, who won 2 Olympic Gold Medals after wrestling at OSU.
Going In. Oklahoma's stadium opened in 1923, as Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The coach was Bennie Owen, and the playing surface was named Owen Field. Since so many major colleges had named their facilities "Memorial Stadium" (since so many had been built in the 1920s, in the aftermath of World War I), "Owen Field" became the most familiar name for the Sooners' place. It is also nicknamed The Palace On the Prairie.
The address is 180 E. Brooks Street, a mile south of downtown. Bus 24. If you drive in, parking is a whopping $46.
The stadium seated 16,000 when it opened, and was expanded to 32,000 in 1929, 55,000 in 1949 following the initial success under Bud Wilkinson, 61,000 in 1957, 71,000 in 1975, 75,000 in 1984, 81,000 in 2003, and the current 86,112 in 2016. The Sooners allow their stadium to be used for other purposes, including concerts.
September 17, 2016. Ohio State visited.
That's their band in the process of doing "Script Ohio."
Oklahoma State's stadium stands at 700 West Hall of Fame Avenue, a half-mile southwest of downtown. If you drive in, parking is $13.
With Gallagher-Iba Arena in the open east end zone
It is the oldest stadium in the Big 12 Conference, having opened in 1920 as Lewis Field, after Dr. Laymon Lewis, a veterinarian who was also the school's popular dean of literature and science. In 2003, it was renamed T. Boone Pickens Stadium, or "The Boone," for the OSU grad and Texas oilman who donated $165 million to the school's athletic department, which provided for the building of the west end zone and, among other things, new facilities for soccer, tennis, track, and the new baseball stadium set to open in 2020 (which, I hope, will also be named for Allie Reynolds).
The stadium seated just 8,000 at the time, but grew to 13,000 in 1930, 30,000 in 1947, 39,000 in 1950, 50,000 in 1972, and 60,000 in 2008. The field has been artificial turf since 1972, and, oddly, runs east-to-west, usually a problem because of the path of the Sun.
Food. Oklahoma's Gaylord Stadium has Bavarian pretzels with cheese, Sooner Street Tacos, Mackdaddy's Onion Burgers, and Billy Sims Barbecue stands. The Heisman winner runs restaurants and markets his sauce to supermarkets.
Oklahoma State's Pickens Stadium includes such brands as Pizza Hut, Chick-fil-A, Thai Loco, and Zaxby's coffee. Given Boone Pickens' political prediletions, I'm not surprised there's Chick-fil-A, although, if there was going to be pizza, I would have expected it to be Papa John's.
Team History Displays. Oklahoma is one of the defining programs in college football. Oklahoma State is... not. Not even close. They aren't a terrible program, but comparing them to Oklahoma is like comparing a perennially underachieving baseball team to the old Yankee Dynasty.
The Sooners display their titles on the press box at Gaylord/Memorial/Owen. They've won National Championships in 1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985 and 2000, as certified by either the AP, UPI, or the BCS. There are other titles, awarded by less authoritative agencies, that they do not claim.
They won the Southwest Conference title in 1915 and 1918; the league that would eventually be known as the Big 8 in 1920 (as the Missouri Valley), 1938, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1947 (these as the Big 6), 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957 (these as the Big 7), 1958, 1959, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987; and the Big 12 in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017. So that's 47 titles: 2 in the SWC, 34 in the Big 8, and 11 in the Big 12. In addition, they won the Big 12 South Division, but lost the Championship Game, in 2003.
They won the Southwest Conference title in 1915 and 1918; the league that would eventually be known as the Big 8 in 1920 (as the Missouri Valley), 1938, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1947 (these as the Big 6), 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957 (these as the Big 7), 1958, 1959, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987; and the Big 12 in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017. So that's 47 titles: 2 in the SWC, 34 in the Big 8, and 11 in the Big 12. In addition, they won the Big 12 South Division, but lost the Championship Game, in 2003.
Owen and Wilkinson have statues outside the stadium. So do the school's 1st 5 Heisman Trophy winners: 1952 running back Billy Vessels (whose pro career was cut short by injury), 1969 running back Steve Owens (played 5 years with the Detroit Lions), 1978 running back Billy Sims (was headed for a Hall of Fame career with the Lions before a knee injury ended it in his 5th season), 2003 quarterback Jason White (the only Heisman winner ever willing to turn pro and still not be drafted, due to concerns over his knees, and he has since gotten rich in retail), and 2008 quarterback Sam Bradford (cut by the Arizona Cardinals over this past weekend). Presumably, a statue will be added for their 6th Heisman winner, 2017 honoree Baker Mayfield, now the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns.
Wilkinson's statue
Like USC, the Sooners have specialized in running backs. In addition to Vessels, Owens and Sims, they include Greg Pruitt (1970s Cleveland Browns), Joe Washington (1970s Baltimore Colts and 1980s Washington Redskins) and Adrian Peterson (2010s Minnesota Vikings, now with the Redskins).
Other Sooner football stars include Tommy McDonald (Hall of Fame receiver for the 1950s Philadelphia Eagles), Bob Kalsu (Buffalo Bills linebacker killed in action in Vietnam), Lee Roy Selmon (Hall of Fame defensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who played on OU's defensive line with his brothers Dewey and Lucius), Brian Bosworth (controversial 1980s linebacker who went into action movies), and Tony Casillas (defensive tackle for the 1990s Dallas Cowboys). However, the Sooners do not retire uniform numbers, so even Sims' 20 is still available.
Darrell Royal, legendary coach of rival Texas, was a quarterback at Oklahoma under Wilkinson. Wilkinson also tried to recruit Mickey Mantle as a halfback and Bobby Murcer as a quarterback, but, knowing that baseball then paid more than football, both of them signed with the Yankees. Pat Bowlen, owner of the Denver Broncos since 1984, is also an Oklahoma graduate.
Oklahoma has won 29 bowl games, including the Orange Bowl (once with an automatic bid to the Big 8 Champions) in 1954, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1968, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1987 and 2001 (and denied for 1955 and 1957, due to a rule, soon changed, that prohibited back-to-back appearances); the Sugar Bowl in 1949, 1950, 1972, 1973, 2014 and 2017; the Fiesta Bowl in 1976 and 2011; the Cotton Bowl in 2002; and the Rose Bowl in 2003.
Oklahoma is 1 of 5 schools to have won all 5 major bowls, achieving it in 2011. The others: Notre Dame in 1989, Penn State in 1995, Ohio State in 1999 and Texas in 2004.
Oklahoma State claims the 1945 National Championship, and put a display of it on a wall at Pickens Stadium. Had this title been awarded by the Associated Press (AP, the sportswriters' poll) or United Press International (UPI, the coaches' poll), it would have made the school, then known as Oklahoma A&M, the 1st school to win National Championships in both baseball and football in the same calendar year (1945), and the 1st to do it in the same schoolyear (1945-46).
Neither poll recognized them as such, giving it to Army, and the achievements in question have only been done by 1 school, Florida, in 2006 and 2006-07, respectively.
It's not worth the Army's time to remove it.
But they have won 10 Conference Championships: In 1926, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1944, 1945, 1948, 1953, 1976 and 2011. They've won 18 out of 28 bowl games, including the 1944 and 2013 Cotton Bowls, the 1945 and 2015 Sugar Bowls, and the 1974 and 2011 Fiesta Bowls.
The greatest of all OSU football players is 1988 Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders. He and Thurman Thomas were teammates for a couple of years, and both are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. However, OSU does not retire uniform numbers, not even Sanders' 21 (20 in the pros) or Thomas' 34.
Other Cowboy legends (OSU, not necessarily Dallas) include former Dallas receivers Walt Garrison and Dez Bryant, early New York Giant offensive lineman Bill Owen, Philadelphia Eagles center Sonny Keys, Jets Super Bowl kicker Jim Turner, Jets and Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Jerry Sherk, Washington Redskins defensive tackle Dexter Manley, San Diego Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Leslie O'Neal, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jason Gildon, Indianapolis Colts guard Charlie Johnson, defensive tackles Jamal Williams of the Chargers and Kevin Williams of the Minnesota Vikings (not related), Denver Broncos defensive end Antonio Smith, Houston Texans quarterback Brandon Weeden, and 1980s quarterback, now head coach, Mike Gundy. He was a good quarterback. Now, he's a good coach! He's a man! He's 51!
The "Bedlam Series" between the Sooners and the Cowboys was first played on November 6, 1904, in Guthrie, Oklahoma. The Sooners won 75-0. No, that's not a misprint: Seventy-five to nothing. The game has been played every season since 1910, and is one of the most lopsided major college football rivalries: The Sooners lead it 87-18-7. Oklahoma A&M/State have won only in 1917, 1924, 1927, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1944, 1945, 1965, 1966, 1976, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2011 and 2014.
OU won 19 straight from 1946 to 1964, roughly the Bud Wilkinson era. They went 17-0-1 from 1977 to 1994, roughly the Barry Switzer era. How rough has it been for OSU? Since 2004, in 6 of these games, they've scored at least 35 points, and only won 1 of them. In 4 of them, they've scored at least 41 points, and won none. They scored 48 in 2012 and 52 last year, and lost both.
Ask a Sooner fan, and you'll hear that the Cowboys aren't their biggest rivals, the Texas Longhorns are. It's like Yankee Fans: Sooner fans pity the Cowboys like we do the Mets, but they hate Longhorns like we hate the Red Sox.
The Oklahoma-Texas game has several nicknames: The Red River Showdown (the Red River separates the States), the Red River Rivalry, the Red River Classic and the Red River Shootout. It's been played on neutral ground in Dallas every season since 1929. Texas leads the rivalry 61-45-5.
For many years, Oklahoma's biggest rivalry was with Nebraska, as the 2 schools dominated the Big 8 in the 1960s, '70s and '80s. Oklahoma leads, They first played in 1912, and played every year from 1928 to 1997. But changing conference lineups ended that. They played each other in the Big 12 Championship Game in 2006 and 2010 (Oklahoma won both times). But with Nebraska now in the Big 10, the game becomes even rarer. The schools recently signed a deal to play each other in 2021 and 2022 (home-and-home). The Sooners lead the Cornhuskers, 45-38-3.
Stuff. OU has a large team store under the north end of the stadium. The University of Oklahoma Bookstore is at 1185 Asp Avenue (yes, Asp like the snake), just outside Memorial Stadium's west stand. OSU has a Spirit Merchandise store at their stadium, and their University Store is at the Student Union, 3 blocks south of the stadium.
Ray Dozier wrote Legends of Oklahoma Sooners Football in 2014. Bud Wilkinson: An Intimate Portrait of an American Legend was published in 1994, shortly after he died, by his son Jay Wilkinson and businesswoman Gretchen Hirsch. Jim Dent, author of several books on college football, wrote The Undefeated: The Oklahoma Sooners and the Greatest Winning Streak in College Football in 2001. The DVD The History of Oklahoma Football came out in 2010.
Oklahoma State football books are far fewer. Pat Jones and Jimmie Tramel published Tales from Oklahoma State Football in 2007. The following year, the DVD The Legends of Oklahoma State was released.
During the Game. As with any college football game where you're a neutral, particularly in the South, stick with one team or the other, and leave the other team's fans alone, and you should be okay.
The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 inspired the title of the OU fight song, "Boomer Sooner." The music was swiped from Yale's "Boola Boola," and they also swiped an idea from North Carolina's "I'm a Tar Heel Born."
The Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band also plays the theme from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! (naturally), Gioachino Rossini's "William Tell Overture" (probably because it reminds people of the Lone Ranger, except he had been a Texas Ranger), Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," Three Dog Night's "Never Been to Spain" (because the song's composer, Hoyt Axton, truthfully included a reference to being born in Oklahoma), Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," the theme from Jaws, Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train," the theme from the Mortal Kombat video game series, Zombie Nation's "Kernkraft 400," and the White Stripes'"Seven Nation Army."
The Land Rush -- the participants were known as the 89ers -- also inspired Oklahoma's mascot, the Sooner Schooner, a prairie schooner pulled by 2 ponies, named, naturally, Boomer and Sooner. Debuting in 1964, it leads the team onto the field, and circles the stadium after after touchdown.
![]()
Oklahoma A&M's teams were originally called the Tigers, hence the colors orange and black. In 1923, they became the Cowboys. In 1958, the year the name was changed to Oklahoma State, the caricature of Pistol Pete debuted, and a guy-in-a-costume mascot debuted in 1984.
They have a secondary mascot, Bullet, a black horse ridden by the Spirit Rider -- who must also take care of the horse, including cleaning out his stall. They ride around the field as the team comes onto the field, and after every touchdown.
![]()
The Cowboy Marching Band plays "The Waving Song" during pregame introductions, after touchdowns, and after a win. Fans wave their right arms, similar to the "Waving Wheat" of Big 12 neighbors Kansas.
Then there's the Paddle People. According to a 2014 Tulsa World article:
They have a secondary mascot, Bullet, a black horse ridden by the Spirit Rider -- who must also take care of the horse, including cleaning out his stall. They ride around the field as the team comes onto the field, and after every touchdown.
The Spirit Rider aboard Bullet, with Pistol Pete in the background
The Cowboy Marching Band plays "The Waving Song" during pregame introductions, after touchdowns, and after a win. Fans wave their right arms, similar to the "Waving Wheat" of Big 12 neighbors Kansas.
Then there's the Paddle People. According to a 2014 Tulsa World article:
Legend has it that a handful of diehard Cowboys showed up at a game one Saturday with orange paddles, resembling cricket bats.
They sat in the front row of the student section and furiously pounded against the low wall that surrounds the football field, making a teeth-rattling racket. They came back the next game. And the next.
Back then, of course, front-row seats weren't hard to find. OSU wasn't exactly a powerhouse. But as the football program grew, so did the number of Paddle People...
Eventually, they stretched single-file from the back of the end zone to near the 25-yard line, up to 80 paddles hammering in unison in Boone Pickens Stadium.
The deafening rhythm has become an OSU trademark, an indispensable part of the game-day experience, rallying the home team and distracting opponents. Those front-row seats, however, aren't so easy to get anymore.
On October 6, 2017, Thrillist compiled a list of their Best College Football Stadiums, the top 19 percent of college football, 25 out of 129. Pickens Stadium came in at Number 25, and the Paddle People were cited:In another environment, hordes of crazed young people armed with big wooden paddles would seem like a deleted scene from The Warriors. But at Oklahoma State they're the Paddle People, a group of students who bang these paddles on stadium surfaces to create one of the loudest environments in college football. The nine-figure renovation that the dilapidated old Lewis Field underwent to become Boone Pickens helps too. The stands surround the field on three sides and shoot straight up, making the place especially intense during sold-out night games.
After the Game. As long as you didn't antagonize anybody -- whether the game is in Norman or Stillwater -- the safety of you (and, if you drove in, your car) should not be an issue.
In Oklahoma City, the violent crime rate is one of the highest in the nation. However, if you stick to the downtown area, you should be safe.
With Memorial Stadium flanked by campus buildings on its north and west sides, and OU's track & field facility on the east, your best bet is to head back downtown: The Diner at 213 E. Main Street (renowned for breakfast), Bison Witches Bar & Deli at 211 E. Main, the Service Station at 502 S. Webster Avenue, and, most famously, The Mont at 1300 Classen Blvd., about a half-mile northeast of the stadium.
Stillwater was the site of the 1st Sonic Drive-In, and it's at 215 N. Main Street, 4 blocks from Pickens Stadium. To the east and south of the stadium, Knoblock Street has several notable eateries, including The Garage, Cafe 88, and the Stonewall Tavern -- definitely not to be confused with the Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village bar that became the launching point of the modern gay rights movement.
If your visit to Oklahoma is during the European soccer season, you're probably out of luck in either Norman or Stillwater. Your best bet for a place to watch your club is: Near Norman, Skinny Slim's, at 201 E. Main Street in downtown Oklahoma City; and, near Stillwater, George's Pub, 108 N. 1st Street in Jenks, near Tulsa.
Sidelights. Oklahoma's sports history includes Jim Thorpe, Johnny Bench, and Yankee Legends Mickey Mantle, Bobby Murcer and Allie Reynolds. And then there's all those college football legends, although not every OU and OSU legend was originally from Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma City Dodgers are the closest professional baseball team to Norman. They play at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, which opened in 1998. Previously, they were known as the 89ers and the RedHawks. They haven't yet won a Pennant since moving into the Class AAA Pacific Coast League (and Oklahoma isn't exactly on any coast), but they have won Division titles in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2015.
Prior to the new ballpark opening, the team was known as the Oklahoma City 89ers, and competed in the Class AAA American Association. They played at All Sports Stadium, and won Pennants in 1963, 1965, 1992 and 1996. It was located in State Fair Park at 333 Gordon Cooper Blvd. at Eighty-Nine Drive, about 5 miles west of downtown. Number 38 bus from downtown.
The Tulsa Drillers are the closest minor-league team to Stillwater. They play at ONEOK Field. (That's named for a natural gas utility, is supposed to mean "One OK," and is pronounced "WON-oak.") It's also home to the Tulsa Roughnecks, a minor-league soccer team named for a team in the old North American Soccer League. 201 N. Elgin Avenue.
It's 84 miles between the 2 stadiums. From Norman, it's 21 miles to the Thunder's arena, 125 to Tulsa, 190 to Dallas, and 372 to Kansas City. From Stillwater, it's 67 to the Thunder, 69 to Tulsa, 258 to Dallas and 317 to Kansas City.
The 11,562-seat Lloyd Noble Center has been the home of Oklahoma basketball since 1975. It was named for Samuel Lloyd Noble, a Houston oilman who had donated to OU. Elvis Presley sang there And he did shows at the Lloyd Noble Center n March 25 and 26, 1977. 2900 Jenkins Avenue, about a mile south of the stadium. No bus service.
There has never been a President who was born or spent significant time in Oklahoma, and so there's no Presidential Library there. Herbert Hoover's Vice President was an Oklahoman, Charles Curtis, believed to be the 1st person of Native American descent to serve in the U.S. Congress, and he served in both houses. Typical for Vice Presidents, he tends to get forgotten. Then again, Hoover should have been so lucky.
Carl Albert, known as the Little Giant from Little Dixie (he was 5-foot-4), served a northeastern Oklahoma district in Congress from 1947 to 1977. From 1955 onward, he served in the Democratic Party's leadership in the House of Representatives, and was Speaker of the House from January 21, 1971 to January 3, 1977.
This meant that, from Spiro Agnew's resignation of the Vice Presidency on October 10, 1973 until Congress approved House Minority Leader Gerald Ford as Vice President on December 6, and again from Richard Nixon's resignation making Ford President on August 9, 1974 until Nelson Rockefeller's confirmation as Vice President on December 19, Albert was the next person in line for the Presidency.
If Nixon or Ford had died during those times -- or, a very real danger the 1st time around, if evidence was discovered that would have forced Nixon's earlier resignation -- the Presidency would have passed to Albert, and thus from a Republican to a Democrat, without an election. Knowing this, Albert never lifted a finger to make himself President. Quite the opposite: He made Ford's confirmation as Vice President as smooth as he could. In spite of their political differences, they were friendly.
The Devon Energy Center, opening in 2012 at 844 feet, is tallest building in Oklahoma -- indeed, it's the tallest building between Chicago and Dallas. 280 W. Sheridan Avenue at Robinson Street, in downtown Oklahoma City.
Aside from Thunderstruck, the most notable movies set in Oklahoma are the 1940 version of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, The Outsiders, Far and Away, Twister (as you might guess for a State known as "Tornado Alley"), Elizabethtown and The Killer Inside Me.
Cimarron, made in 1931 off Edna Ferber's novel, and based on the 1889 land rush that created Oklahoma as we know it, was perhaps the 1st great Western of the sound film era. It was remade in color in 1960, shortly after NBC aired an unrelated Western series named Cimarron City. A few years later, CBS aired a Western series named Cimarron Strip. However, none of those movies was actually filmed in Oklahoma, instead using Southern California locations.
The TNT crime drama Saving Grace was set in Oklahoma City, hometown of its creator Nancy Miller. While it used some location shots, it was largely filmed in Los Angeles and Vancouver. The HBO series Carnivàle was also set in Oklahoma, but filmed in Southern California.
Special Agent Eleanor "Ellie" Bishop on NCIS grew up on an Oklahoma farm and is an Oklahoma State graduate, and has an OSU pennant on the wall of her cubicle. She is played by Emily Wickersham, who actually grew up in Mamaroneck, New York and went to Muhlenberg College in Pennsylania. The University of Oklahoma doesn't have a claim on a pop-culture figure even that big.
*
Oklahoma is a long way from New York, but it's one of the hotter football hotbeds. "Bedlam" may be an understatement.