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And so it begins. From KOCO.com (ABC affiliate, channel 5 here in Oklahoma City for those of you who’ve been away a while):
The University of Colorado has made the first move, joining the Pac 10 conference on Thursday.
“This is an historic moment for the Conference, as the Pac-10 is poised for tremendous growth. The University of Colorado is a great fit for the Conference both academically and athletically and we are incredibly excited to welcome Colorado to the Pac-10,” said Commissioner Larry Scott.
The move is not contingent on what Nebraska might do relative to the Big 10. The Buffaloes will begin play in the Pac 10 in 2012.
KOCO references an ESPN.com report that if Nebraska leaves the Big 12 (and this was before Colorado announced anything), the conference would simply dissolve.
I have no more insight (and perhaps less) into this than any of you do, so I can only guess. We’ve all heard the rumors that the Pac-10 is poised to invite the entire Big 12 South minus Baylor (and including Colorado, so that part’s obviously true) and become the Pac-16, or something renamed since it would then stretch from Seattle to College Station. We’ve heard that Nebraska and Missouri were invited to join the Big Ten, and lately I’ve read that while Nebraska has indeed been invited, Missouri has not and is (metaphorically) waiting in its prom dress for the Big Ten to ring the doorbell and take her to the dance.
OK, it was a bad metaphor. Sorry.
All I know is that CU is now gone. They had games scheduled against OU on October 25, 2014 (in Norman) and October 31, 2015 (in Boulder) that I’ve now removed from the Events Calendar.
Unlikely speculation? If Nebraska now stays in the Big 12 (far less probable now that CU has already bolted), the Big 12 can stay together if it adds a marquee football school—to the North division. (That would rule out a school like TCU.) I can think of names like Boise State and BYU, and with less successful football programs but a good academic reputation, the Air Force Academy -- but these all seem unlikely for various reasons.
And since football is driving these issues, it’s also driving schools like Kansas crazy. Every story I’ve read, from raw speculation to “I have high-placed sources,” says that Kansas, Kansas State, and Iowa State are left out of all discussions (the Big Ten allegedly only wants Nebraska and Missouri, if both; the Pac-10 just got Colorado, and those six schools are the whole Big 12 North—the historic Big Eight Conference minus OU and OSU).
On the football side, due to existing schedules and TV contracts and such, the 2010 and 2011 schedules are pretty much untouchable as far as I know. OU will host Colorado in a Big 12 Conference game on October 30 (two weeks after homecoming) and travel to Boulder for a game on October 29, 2011. I don’t see how the 2010 schedule could change at this late stage in the game, and I’m having difficulty seeing how the 2011 schedule could change much. Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess.
I would not bet a quarter that the Big 12 Conference will be operating for the 2012 football season. 
Posted by Webmaster on 6/10/10; 12:35:27 PM
from the Gameday dept.
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The Wind Symphony appears on April 22 in a rare free concert in tribute to the men and women, past and present, of the United States military. Here’s the press release:
“Every piece selected for the concert is a patriotic tribute to their selfless service in defending our freedoms at home and abroad,” says William Wakefield, director of University Bands.
The University of Oklahoma School of Music presents the Sutton Concert Series with a special performance by the OU Wind Symphony at 8 p.m., Thursday, April 22, in Sharp Concert Hall. This concert is free and open to the public and will be streamed online at http://music.ou.edu/. Visiting guest artists for the concert include Kevin Walczyk, composer-in-residence at the School of Music, and Ssgt. Joseph F. LeBlanc, clarinet, from “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band.
 The concert honors those who have served in the United States Armed Forces. The program for the concert includes “American Salute” by Morton Gould; “Vision of Souls,” a tribute to the victims of September 11, and “Symphony No. 2, Epitaphs Unwritten” both by Walczyk; “X” by Scott McAllister; and “Armed Forces Medley” arranged by Thomas Knox.
Wakefield says the concert is the culmination of a week-long celebration of Walczyk’s music, with additional concerts performed the week of April 18-22. Walczyk serves as Guest Composer-in-Residence with the OU School of Music. Throughout his stay, he will be meeting with student and faculty artists, coaching both rehearsals and performances of his compositions. Each night of his residency will feature a performance of one of his pieces.
Walczyk has devoted so much of his passion towards the OU School of Music and its students. He wrote his massive Symphony specifically with OU in mind, and will be a huge artistic benefit in his one-on-one interaction with the performers of his music.
“The audience is in for a musically moving experience, his voice is one that is rapidly making an impact on the international stage,” says Wakefield.
Additional concerts performed at 8 p.m., in Sharp Concert Hall, during week of April 18- 22 include:
Monday, April 19: Sutton Concert Series presents Faculty Brass Quintet performing “Divertimento.” Tuesday, April 20: Sutton Concert Series presents OU Jazz Ensemble performing “Relaxin’ at Calarillo.” Wednesday, April 21: Visiting Guest Artist Ssgt. Joseph LeBlanc performs the world premiere of “Bois de la Paix” at 6 p.m., Pitman Recital Hall.
For ticket information on the above concerts, please call the Box Office at (405) 325-4101.
All Sutton Series performances are in OU’s Catlett Music Center, 500 W. Boyd, in your OU Arts District! For up-to-date information call the Fine Arts Box Office at (405) 325-4101.
Many concerts are scheduled for live stream via Internet, to see a schedule visit http://music.ou.edu/calendar . Please visit http://music.ou.edu/ for a full calendar of events and performances at the School of Music. The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution. For accommodations on the basis of disability, please call the Box Office at (405) 325-4101
If you regularly attend the symphonic wind concerts at OU (and if not, why not? they're great!), you may remember Walcyzk's work. During the Homecoming 2008 concert, the Wind Symphony premiered the wind version of his Celebration Fanfare. Last February, trumpet soloist Brandon Ridenour performed Walczyk's Concerto Gaucho: For Trumpet and Wind Ensemble in a memorable evening. The Symphony No. 2 is so new that you can't view a score online, but you can read more about the piece and the consortium (led by OU) that commissioned it.
For information on obtaining tickets in advance, you can contact Danh Pham through that there link, which keeps spam harvesters from finding his address (that works for all of you, too; it's why we use it rather than publish individual E-mail addresses where harvesters could find them).
If you don't get advance tickets, you can still be seated (still for free) in the ten minutes prior to the start of the concert, but why take chances? Get tickets now from the Box Office, or get some for your whole group!
Posted by Webmaster on 4/15/10; 5:22:00 PM
from the Concerts, OU Music dept.
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The red box has returned to the Web site’s home page with this afternoon’s announcment that Homecoming 2010 is now officially on for October 16, when the Sooners take on Iowa State (in Norman, obviously).
Parents Day (not to be confused with the separate Pride Parents Day) is October 30 vs. Colorado.
Everyone (including your officers) just found out today, so it will take some time to get the process started on forms and registration and the like. Of course, given the realities of modern college football television contracts, we probably will not know the kickoff time until October 4, or perhaps as late as October 11 if something goes really strange. It seems more likely that we’ll know by October 4 (13 days ahead) because Saturday, October 9, is the Sooners’ bye week—one week after Texas, one week before homecoming. You can see all of this on our Events calendar if you wish.
Also, the band department also promises us an online (PDF) registration form for the annual alumni golf tournament later in the week, and we’ll link to that when we have it, too. With concerts in the next two weeks, as well, the activity is really starting to pick up for band folks!
Posted by Webmaster on 4/15/10; 4:40:49 PM
from the Homecoming 2010 dept.
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Greetings and blessings during this holiday season. It was great seeing some of you at Homecoming. If you were there, you heard about our two new Pride giving programs (and you can’t stop doing that dance every time you hear the Thriller music)!
We have some exciting news and ways you can continue your legacy with the Pride and help others at the same time.
I hope that you will consider joining the Pride Patrons. The Patrons will be an affinity group designed for anyone who loves The Pride, wants to become more closely involved with its activities and who would like to offer their financial support to support the good works of its members. For those that join in 2009-10, you will be charter members. The yearly dues are $100. More information is available here in PDF format.
I also hope that you will consider endowing a position (or section) in perpetuity in the Pride. Our goal is to endow the entire Pride so that the legacy will continue and ensure that it continues to be the very best organization of its kind in the nation! These sponsorships will cover uniforms, instruments, equipment and a scholarship for each Pride member. For a limited time, a financial match is available. These endowments start at $15,000, and they can be payable in many different ways. A full explanation of the opportunities is on our Web site here, again in PDF format.
Contact me if you have any questions! My days in the Pride were my best memory of OU, and I am grateful every day for that experience. I hope you will join me in helping others have that same kind of experience in the years to come.
Live On University,
Karen
Posted by Karen Renfroe on 12/8/09; 11:57:31 AM
from the Membership, Pride History, Pride of Oklahoma dept.
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NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Five interceptions one week. Five touchdowns the next. Such is life as a freshman quarterback for Oklahoma’s Landry Jones.
It’s no secret that Sooner fans have gotten more accustomed to the latter extreme than the former, but despite having lost an estimated 256,782 starting players due to injury this season, our Sooners made it look like most Texas A&M games of the past decade, extending the streak to seven consecutive wins over the Aggies and making the injury-plagued team bowl-eligible.
The Pride's guests were The Noble Men (and Women) of Kyle—The Pulse of the Spirit of Aggieland Nationally Famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Marching Band, and as always, the crowd greeted their halftime performance quite warmly. You can see photos of the Aggie Band on The Pride's practice field here, along with an assertion that "The Aggie Band never loses a halftime," including this past week.
We know the administration is already getting mail disputing this, and of course, we have documented evidence that even Texas newspapers thought The Pride won halftime the last time the Aggies came to Norman.
That, of course, was Thriller night. It's a little bit rough on the Aggie Band that their past two visits have come during such special shows—first the 2007 Halloween show, and this weekend, a Veterans Day tribute that included the Carmen Dragon arrangement of America, The Beautiful, complete with a vocal performance from the 200-member strong University of Oklahoma Singing Sooners, and a nice nighttime fireworks show from the press box and south of the stadium.
The Noble Men (and Women) of Kyle—The Pulse of the Spirit of Aggieland Nationally Famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Marching Band has a long and distinguished tradition, and they are always appreciated at Owen Field. I personally believe it's kind of silly to suggest that The Pride could do something in a Halloween or Veterans Day show that would make them look like anything other than the disciplined and focused organization that they are. They're just about the only band in the country who does what they do, and our crowd always respects their show (especially the fans in the end zones, who hear them louder because of how their drill is written). They were recognized for this excellence when they were awarded the Sudler Trophy in 2001, just as The Pride was in 1987. Both bands do what they do very well and are nationally recognized for it.
With two games left, the Sooners are now all but certain to head to a bowl. The Big 12 has seven bowl tie-ins, and we already know that Colorado cannot win the six games this season necessary for bowl eligibility (the Buffaloes are 3-7 at the moment). Baylor is 4-6 and can't be bowl-eligible with one more loss; Texas A&M is 5-5 and must win one more game to be bowl eligible—but A&M's next two games are against Baylor and Texas, and Baylor's are against A&M and Texas Tech. If Baylor loses either game, they're staying home; if A&M loses both, they're staying home, so at most one of those two schools will play in a bowl game this season. Even if more teams hit the 6-game threshhold, there are already seven Big 12 teams that are bowl-eligible (Nebraska, KSU, Iowa State, Missouri, Texas, OSU, and Oklahoma), and it seems reasonable to guess that bowls would pick these teams first.
Texas's win over Baylor on Saturday morning clinched the Big 12 South division for the Longhorns, so even the most remote "OU could get into the BCS somehow" scenario is now off the table. The Cotton, Holiday, Alamo, Sun, and Insight Bowls are all in play, and Alamo Bowl representatives were spotted on the field Saturday night (on the A&M sideline). But now the Sooners have to travel to Lubbock to face a Texas Tech team, in their house, with an identical 6-4 record. Kickoff is at 11:30 AM CDT on the regional Fox Sports Networks, so keep your red and white at hand.
Posted by Webmaster on 11/16/09; 2:09:13 PM
from the Gameday, Pride of Oklahoma dept.
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Congratulations to Nicole and Craig!
Nicole Chantal Cobb and Craig Raymond Maucere were united in marriage Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009, at 5:30 p.m. in The Piazza in the Village in Colleyville, Texas, with Rodney Howell officiating.
The couple met while attending the University of Oklahoma through participating in the Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band. Craig graduated in 2008 with a degree in political science and Nikki graduated in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in musical arts with an emphasis in business.
Click through to see a lovely wedding picture. I have no idea why the paper didn't publish an August 8 wedding until November 10 (sometimes teh interwebs get confused on these things), but a hearty congratulations to two alums!
Posted by Webmaster on 11/10/09; 12:24:47 PM
from the Alumni sightings dept.
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The regional Fox Sports Network channels (“Fox Sports Southwest” here in central Oklahoma) has picked up all three of the Sooners’ remaining games. We already knew that FSN would broadcast the OU vs. Texas A&M game at 6:00 PM CDT this Saturday, but on Monday, the athletic department’s Twitter feed filled in the remaining details:
OU-OSU set for 11:30 a.m., on FSN. OU-Tech will be at either 11:30 or 2 on FSN. Should know which one in the next day or two.
And then:
FSN has set OU at Texas Tech for 11:30 a.m., on Nov. 21.
Our Events calendar has been updated appropriately. The early kickoff time for the OSU game means Bedlam rehearsal for this year’s Pride members will be Marching In The Dark! Didn’t you love those 6:00 AM rehearsal times?
(Don’t answer that.)
Posted by Webmaster on 11/9/09; 12:11:45 PM
from the Gameday dept.
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Click here to read my take on the Big 12 races and on the surprising reason why a Sooner team no better than 8-4 may still prove irresistible to the Holiday Bowl due to a perfect storm of circumstances.
Posted by Webmaster on 11/8/09; 7:07:34 PM
from the Gameday dept.
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This Page was last updated: Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 12:35:27 PM
This page was originally posted: 6/10/10; 12:35:27 PM
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