AND THE LAND YOU BELONG TO IS GRAND: In honor of this site's 3,000,000th visitor -- visiting six of our pages for 2+ minutes at 2:08pm EDT today via Norman, OK -- tell us something you like about the Sooner State.
Easy for me, because the vast majority of my extended family lives there. Besides family, however, I'm a bit of a severe weather nut, so I love being out on the farm and watching the huge thunderstorms/tornadic weather. The farm also means some good eating.
Also: Sooners football/basketball, Sealed with a Kiss knitting shop in Guthrie, Turner Falls for camping, Thunder basketball (unless playing the Mavericks).
The head coaching career of Barry Switzer, which later led to the Eagles stuffing the Cowboys' "Load Left" play twice on fourth and one (only this lousy clip exists on YouTube?).
Relatedly, the football, and then acting, career of Brian Bosworth.
This. Plus the song Oklahoma. "And when we say....yeeeow! AiyipaiyoiYAY....yeeeow!" My brother and I do a rather rousing rendition after many bottles of wine. <span> </span>
I will second (or third) the song Oklahoma, and add the Sooner Schooner (a tiny cart! and ponies!): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sooner_Schooner However, I will be spending three days next week at a conference in Tulsa, so I reserve the right to add to my list.
I've always liked that, with every other state choosing to honor politicians or generals (with a few inventors and educators here and there), Oklahoma has chosen to put up a statue of Will Rogers in the Capitol's statuary hall: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Statuary_Hall. Oklahoma's other honoree, Sequoyah, the inventor of the written Cherokee language, is also a pretty cool choice.
Before writing this comment, I checked Wikipedia to confirm my recollection that Rogers is the only entertainer in Statuary Hall and, after looking over the list of honorees, I will note with no comment that Missouri has chosen to honor the politicians Thomas Hart Benton (not the artist) and Francis Preston Blair, rather than Mark Twain and that Mississippi, home to Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Robert Johnson, has chosen to honor Jefferson Davis and 19th century senator James Z. George.
Oklahoma is one of three states I have not visited. I am hoping to visit there soon. I just hired an assistant who was born and educated in OK, so I anticipate learning a lot more about the state.
As someone born and raised in Texas, I will assert our superiority in spite of the recent football scores. (And for those who would seek to make political points, I'll offer Ann and Cecile Richards as a counterweight.)
As an actual Okie, they were my first thought. Also from the realm of music: Woody Guthrie, Wanda Jackson, and Leon Russell. Color Me Badd, too, but we tend not to talk about that around these parts.
"Oklahoma, Oklahoma... There, I said it twice" Lived in Enid, OK between the ages of 3 and 7... Tornadoes, that's mostly what I remember, That and Sister Gertrude teaching me to read
Swan Lake in Tulsa is a lovely little neighborhood and when they light it all up for Christmas it is downright down home americana adorable. I should note that my future in-laws live on the lake and are main movers and shakers for the lights, but it is still pretty damn cute.
Never been there, but when I think of Oklahoma, I think of the sublime Cary Grant in "The Awful Truth" reassuring Irene Dunne that when she gets bored in Oklahoma City, she can always go over to Tulsa for the weekend.
The football playing Selmon Brothers -- Lucious, Dewey, and Hall-of-Famer Lee Roy, from Eufaula. Dewey and Lee Roy were Tampa Bay Buc teammates and defensive anchors from the team's 1976 inaugural season until 1981, after which Dewey played one more season for San Diego. Lee Roy went on to spend three more years with the Bucs, but had to retire after a back injury. Older brother Lucious also starred for the Sooners, but never played in the NFL (though he did spend a couple of years in the old WFL).
I went to school in Norman! I went to the Univ. of Oklahoma, which is where I met my wife. We got married at a local church, but had the reception on campus in the student union. I lived in Oklahoma for 11 years total, and it's a great state with a bit of an inferiority complex vis a vis Texas.
(1) Sonic; (2) Blake Shelton and (3) (by marriage) Miranda Lambert; and (4) the fact that they not only sing Oklahoma at their minor league baseball games, but everyone knows the words, making the stadium sound like a choir.
I had a friend at OU who dated Lee Roy Selmon III. I got to meet him a few times. She introduced him as "Trey", and I didn't connect the dots until later. Later, she dated several members of the OU football team. This leads me to my conclusion: OU girls love football players.
Well, let's see: Sooner football (natch!), The Tulsa Driller, Woolaroc, Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, the Gilcrease and Philbrook museums, Hideway Pizza (based in Stillwater and where the game, Pente, was invented), the town of Barnsdall (one-time home to Anita Bryant and Clark Gable), the town of Pawhuska (capitol of the Osage Nation and also the home of the first U.S.-based Boy Scout troop), Reba McEntire, etc. The list goes on and on and on ...
Does Hugh Jackman singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" count?
ReplyDeleteI like the Boomer Sooner song they play at football games.
ReplyDeleteI'm very proud of their NBA ownership group.
ReplyDeleteEasy for me, because the vast majority of my extended family lives there. Besides family, however, I'm a bit of a severe weather nut, so I love being out on the farm and watching the huge thunderstorms/tornadic weather. The farm also means some good eating.
ReplyDeleteAlso: Sooners football/basketball, Sealed with a Kiss knitting shop in Guthrie, Turner Falls for camping, Thunder basketball (unless playing the Mavericks).
The head coaching career of Barry Switzer, which later led to the Eagles stuffing the Cowboys' "Load Left" play twice on fourth and one (only this lousy clip exists on YouTube?).
ReplyDeleteRelatedly, the football, and then acting, career of Brian Bosworth.
This. Plus the song Oklahoma. "And when we say....yeeeow! AiyipaiyoiYAY....yeeeow!" My brother and I do a rather rousing rendition after many bottles of wine.
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troll
ReplyDeleteI will second (or third) the song Oklahoma, and add the Sooner Schooner (a tiny cart! and ponies!): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sooner_Schooner
ReplyDeleteHowever, I will be spending three days next week at a conference in Tulsa, so I reserve the right to add to my list.
It's not Texas.
ReplyDeleteHey, I get to be the first to mention the Flaming Lips!
ReplyDeleteI'm a man! I'm 40!
ReplyDeleteHome of the most fabulously tacky Stuckey's I've ever visited.
ReplyDeleteI've always liked that, with every other state choosing to honor politicians or generals (with a few inventors and educators here and there), Oklahoma has chosen to put up a statue of Will Rogers in the Capitol's statuary hall: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Statuary_Hall. Oklahoma's other honoree, Sequoyah, the inventor of the written Cherokee language, is also a pretty cool choice.
ReplyDeleteBefore writing this comment, I checked Wikipedia to confirm my recollection that Rogers is the only entertainer in Statuary Hall and, after looking over the list of honorees, I will note with no comment that Missouri has chosen to honor the politicians Thomas Hart Benton (not the artist) and Francis Preston Blair, rather than Mark Twain and that Mississippi, home to Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Robert Johnson, has chosen to honor Jefferson Davis and 19th century senator James Z. George.
Eskimo Joe's in Stillwater
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed my visit to Bricktown Ballpark to see the Oklahoma City RedHawks play in 1998.
ReplyDeleteOklahoma is one of three states I have not visited. I am hoping to visit there soon. I just hired an assistant who was born and educated in OK, so I anticipate learning a lot more about the state.
ReplyDeleteAs someone born and raised in Texas, I will assert our superiority in spite of the recent football scores. (And for those who would seek to make political points, I'll offer Ann and Cecile Richards as a counterweight.)
ReplyDeleteAs an actual Okie, they were my first thought. Also from the realm of music: Woody Guthrie, Wanda Jackson, and Leon Russell. Color Me Badd, too, but we tend not to talk about that around these parts.
ReplyDelete"Oklahoma, Oklahoma... There, I said it twice" Lived in Enid, OK between the ages of 3 and 7... Tornadoes, that's mostly what I remember, That and Sister Gertrude teaching me to read
ReplyDeleteSwan Lake in Tulsa is a lovely little neighborhood and when they light it all up for Christmas it is downright down home americana adorable. I should note that my future in-laws live on the lake and are main movers and shakers for the lights, but it is still pretty damn cute.
ReplyDeleteJJ Cale, the GAP band. Plus I think Tulsa can claim the Texas Playboys.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm a very bad Jayhawk! Of course my favorite thing from Oklahoma is Bill Self. (But Eskimo Joe's was fun on basketball road trips.)
ReplyDeleteBarry Sanders.
ReplyDeleteNever been there, but when I think of Oklahoma, I think of the sublime Cary Grant in "The Awful Truth" reassuring Irene Dunne that when she gets bored in Oklahoma City, she can always go over to Tulsa for the weekend.
ReplyDeleteThere is a small town in OK named for some antient (and presumably honorable) member of my family.
ReplyDeleteA town named Enid (even though I've never been there...)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful accent and Garth Brooks
ReplyDeleteThe football playing Selmon Brothers -- Lucious, Dewey, and Hall-of-Famer Lee Roy, from Eufaula. Dewey and Lee Roy were Tampa Bay Buc teammates and defensive anchors from the team's 1976 inaugural season until 1981, after which Dewey played one more season for San Diego. Lee Roy went on to spend three more years with the Bucs, but had to retire after a back injury. Older brother Lucious also starred for the Sooners, but never played in the NFL (though he did spend a couple of years in the old WFL).
ReplyDeleteI went to school in Norman! I went to the Univ. of Oklahoma, which is where I met my wife. We got married at a local church, but had the reception on campus in the student union. I lived in Oklahoma for 11 years total, and it's a great state with a bit of an inferiority complex vis a vis Texas.
ReplyDelete(1) Sonic; (2) Blake Shelton and (3) (by marriage) Miranda Lambert; and (4) the fact that they not only sing Oklahoma at their minor league baseball games, but everyone knows the words, making the stadium sound like a choir.
ReplyDeleteI had a friend at OU who dated Lee Roy Selmon III. I got to meet him a few times. She introduced him as "Trey", and I didn't connect the dots until later. Later, she dated several members of the OU football team. This leads me to my conclusion: OU girls love football players.
ReplyDeleteShannon Miller-- the most decorated American gymnast, who I recently learned had ovarian cancer and is now cancer free. Shannon is from Edmond, OK.
ReplyDeleteS.E. Hinton, the Greasers, the Socs, Ponyboy and Sodapop, Johnny and Dally. Tex, too ... and Rusty-James.
ReplyDeleteThat it doesn't take too long to drive from top to bottom and I've never been pulled over despite going over 90 to get through it :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, Bill Self...Rock Chalk!
stay gold, Ponyboy.
ReplyDeleteWell, let's see: Sooner football (natch!), The Tulsa Driller, Woolaroc, Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, the Gilcrease and Philbrook museums, Hideway Pizza (based in Stillwater and where the game, Pente, was invented), the town of Barnsdall (one-time home to Anita Bryant and Clark Gable), the town of Pawhuska (capitol of the Osage Nation and also the home of the first U.S.-based Boy Scout troop), Reba McEntire, etc. The list goes on and on and on ...
ReplyDelete