Daily Archives: September 3, 2008

Letter from former (recent) Pride Drum Majors

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We recently received the following letter from the four immediate past drum majors of The Pride of Oklahoma:

September 1, 2008

Dear Pride Alumni,

We hope this letter finds you well. It is hard to believe another season of Sooner football is upon us. For most of us, it is well past due! Certainly no season would be complete without the support of the Pride. We are sure you can all remember preparing for our first run out of the tunnel to a roaring crowd of Sooner fans. It’s an experience any Pride alum can never forget. Perhaps what are more memorable are the people with which we ran out of those tunnels. Our relationships with our fellow Pride members are the foundation for all of our fond memories. Fellow alumni, it is time to relive those days.

Once again the time to participate in alumni band is upon us! This is the chance to set aside some time to dust off those old marching shoes, take a walk around our beloved campus, and rekindle old friendships, all while getting the chance to march in front of 87,000 Sooner fans. It’s an opportunity most of us would give anything to relive!

Speaking truthfully though, most of us have not embraced this opportunity. There seems to be a stigma surrounding this experience we just cannot seem to shake. Perhaps we feel we are too old to be marching again. We say to ourselves, “I just graduated and I’ll look bad if I go back!” Our favorite excuse, however, is “there is no one I know going back.” Fellow alumni, this is one tradition we will NOT continue.

We strongly urge you to participate in this year’s Pride alumni band. We, as the Pride’s four immediate past drum majors, have come together as a group to pledge our attendance at the game and perform the famed “Pride of Oklahoma Strut” at this year’s HOMECOMING game on October 18th. Between the four of us, we have attended ZERO alumni events in a total of TEN years of alumni bands, but it only took attending one Pride rehearsal together to realize what we have been missing out on all these years. To stand together and reminisce about our days was something truly meaningful for the four of us. We left the rehearsal all stating: “I wish we were out there doing this again.” We are positive you would feel the same way. Sometimes the smallest reminders can be our largest influences.

It is time to start a new tradition in the Pride’s history: coming together as a large, strong, and supportive group of alumni, young and old, to support an organization we all hold close to our hearts. We strongly urge you to participate in what will truly be the greatest alumni band to date. We promise you, you will not regret it.

Please contact Alumni Band President Gail Richardson or Alumni Band Secretary Rita Heath, to register for the homecoming weekend festivities. We look forward to seeing you on October 18!

Boomer Sooner,

Clint Williams
2002, 2003		 Kyle Wiemar
2004, 2005		 Eric Shannon
2006		 Chauvin Aaron
2007

Immediate Past Drum Majors, Pride of Oklahoma

Maybe we will feel a little more energy stirring in our midst this year!

Have you called your friends from the college years to talk them into joining you at homecoming this year? Don’t just think about it – do it.

Thanks!

One game done, another coming up

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On Saturday night, we learned that if the Sooners are head of the opponent by 50-0 at halftime, and it then rains on the stadium so hard that they ask people to take cover on the concourse, and extend halftime by 72 minutes to let it pass, then many of those who left their seats will not return for the second half.

The Pride of Oklahoma was not among those who left, but you already knew that.

The picture at the right (a crappy phone picture, sorry) shows the view from the foot of the northeast tunnel during the storm. Click on it for a larger version if you like, but it’s not much better. Other than the huge light, you can see the rain falling and the mostly-empty stands. When the “take cover” instruction came down, they shut off the scoreboards and most (not nearly all) of the field lights to “encourage” people to take cover rather than think they could see fun shows on the wonderful new SoonerVision HD, but those came back on after a few minutes.

Unlike the shorter but colder deluge during 2002′s UTEP game, this time The Pride took cover in their pregame waiting tunnels, making things more bearable for all concerned. (Though we did feel sorry for the new Boomer and Sooner ponies pulling the Sooner Schooner—not only was it their first home game, but they literally got ridden hard during all the first half’s scoring and put away wet during the delay. We’re sure they’re sturdy ponies, though, or they wouldn’t get to pull the Schooner. And their handlers take good care of them. But think nice things for them this week.)

The storm hit just moments after The Pride of Oklahoma finished its first halftime show of the 2008 season—pop hits First Time (Lifehouse) and Ocean Avenue (Yellowcard). They got into the stands and then, almost immediately, got back out of them. The day went from hot and muggy to soaking in a very short time, so the new members of the 2008 Pride have quite a first-game experience to remember!

The challenges continue as the Pride works on this week’s show through threats of rain. The game vs. the Cincinatti Bearcats kicks off at 2:37 PM CDT with coverage on ABC in HD, but coverage will vary by region. Click here for coverage maps later this week to see if the game will be on in your area. For reasons unknown to us, ABC and ESPN have chosen to cover both the other 2:30 PM CDT games in HD, but not OU vs. Cincinatti.

The gameday schedule for Saturday is posted on our Events calendar, and we hope you’ll get to show up in Norman on Saturday afternoon to support the Sooners and see The Pride of Oklahoma!