Pride Parents' Day. Pride Parents' Day will take place on September 15 when the Sooners take on Utah State. Parents' Day is an opportunity for all Pride member's parents to take part in a gameday experience with their son or daughter. A schedule and order forms were mailed to the home address we have on file on Thursday, August 16. You may also download the information in PDF format if you did not receive the mailing. Please note that these items are very time sensitive so complete them today! We would like everyone to be able to participate! We look forward to seeing you on the 15th. Boomer Sooner!
Concert Ensemble Auditions Update. The audition schedule for concert ensemble auditions has been finalized and is available for you to view. Students interested in auditioning should sign up for an audition slot on the bulletin board between the band and orchestra rooms prior to auditions next week. Audition Materials for positions in the Wind Symphony, Symphony Band and Orchestra are still available for download. Please contact the band office if you have difficulty downloading the material.
Concert Ensemble Auditions. Audition Materials for positions in the Wind Symphony, Symphony Band and Orchestra are now posted. Follow the link to your instrument to print the .pdf file, which includes audition music and a newsletter with audition and calendar information. The files are approximately 9 MB in size so if you are downloading from a dial-up connection, please be advised that it will take a little while. Auditions are scheduled the first week of classes between August 20-22. Please contact the band office if you have difficulty downloading the material.
2007 Pride of Oklahoma Auditions. Auditions for the 2007 Pride of Oklahoma will begin Monday, August 13 for all members. Audition music is now available on our secure website. In order to access the secure website, prospective members must either be enrolled in marching band (MUTE 1130, sec 900) or - if enrollment is not yet possible - must provide the band office with their 4x4 (we do not need the account password). Upon login, prospective students will fill out an information profile and once the profile is completed and saved, the student will be able to access the audition files. If there is any trouble with the login, please contact the band office and we will return your email as soon as possible. Boomer Sooner!
University of Oklahoma Honors Wind Ensemble and Choir Camp. The University of Oklahoma Honors Wind Ensemble and Choir Camp brings honors music students to the beautiful university setting for professional development with faculty, conductors, and artist teachers. The groups are comprised of outstanding students from Oklahoma and Texas, grades 9-12, who achieve excellence through membership in all-state, all-area, all-region honor groups, or receive superior ratings at solo and ensemble contest. Participants may also be nominated by their director or applied teacher. Students rehearse, attend master classes/sectional rehearsals with University faculty and perform a final concert at Paul F. Sharp Hall in Catlett Music Center on the University of Oklahoma campus. For additional information, please visit our Honors Wind Ensemble and Choir website.
Wind Symphony selected to perform at regional conference. The Wind Symphony has been selected to perform for the 2008 College Band Directors National Association Southwestern Division Conference at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music on Thursday, February 28, at 8:00 p.m. CBDNA is comprised of college band conductors who focus on the advancement of bands through performance, teaching, and scholarly activity. National and regional conferences present the latest ideas and literature for the medium and are held in alternating years at selected sites. The University of Oklahoma hosted the regional conference in 1990 and 2000.
An Evening of Winds and Percussion. Monday, April 23 at 8:00 p.m., the Symphony Band and Concert Band will present their final concerts for this academic year. The Concert Band will perform Golden Point Overture, As Summer Was Just Beginning, Visions of Flight, and Invercargill. Armenian Dances (Part I), Down a Country Lane, Igor Fantasy, and Symphony in B-flat will be performed by the Symphony Band. Admission to the concert is free. Get a printer-friendly poster here. We hope to see you on the 23rd!
There's a nice article on SoonerSports.com today about The Territory, the new golf community in southwestern Oklahoma:
NORMAN, Okla. -- All things considered, it's not that far from Norman to Duncan, Oklahoma. It might seem like a good distance driving down state highway 81 to the southwest, but the small towns along way have a charm that just can't be found on interstates and superhighways.
Once the path ventures off the highway in Duncan and heads west, one might really wonder if the journey ended up far, far away. There, at the entrance to The Territory golf community is Oklahoma at its very best.
The Territory is the product of Rick and Barbara Braught's vision and is a jewel on the southwest Oklahoma landscape. Aside from golf, The Territory has created its own community, boasting residential homes, a resort-style pool and activity center and two owners committed to first-class service and a sense of family.
"The whole focus has been on service, trying to take care of people and making them feel like they're on vacation while they're out here," said Rick Braught ('84 BBA, '89 MBA).
Even with a quick glance, it's hard not to think about vacation upon arrival at The Territory. The two primary buildings, the Golf House and Prairie House, sit in front of all the community has to offer, including 18 holes of championship golf which have already drawn national tournaments and some impressive accolades.
Since its June 2004 grand opening, the course has hosted the Oklahoma State Amateur, Senior State Amateur and an NCAA Division II Super Regional. Next year, the Halliburton Southwest Oklahoma Championship, as part of the Adams Golf Pro Tour Series, will be staged there.
And after reminding myself that not all readers instantly recognize why this is relevant:
Barbara was born into the McCasland family, a staple in the Duncan area and at OU (her grandfather, T.H. McCasland, was the first man from Duncan to attend OU). Rick's father, Gene, served as director of the Pride of Oklahoma from 1962-1970, giving him a childhood filled with bicycle rides through campus and kicking practice on an unlocked, non-alarmed Owen Field.
Later, both attended the university and were highly active on campus. Barbara was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, while Rick was a member of the Pride of Oklahoma under his father's successor, Gene Thrailkill.
In the fall of 1982, Rick started a two-year stint in one of OU's most prestigious positions, drum major of the Pride. In the role, he was handed the reins to the world-famous "strut" which features the major leading the band down the football field with his back bent so his eyes are often facing the opposite direction. He freely admits that he can't replicate the move today, but shares a bit of humor from when remembering his college days.
And it is funny—but you'll have to go read the article for the rest. Congratulations to Rick and Barbara!
The Pride of Oklahoma debuted the new red uniform coats in New York City on Thanksgiving Day in the Macy's® Thanksgiving Day Parade. The previous red coats were retired after Coach's last season in 2000, and this is the first time in seven years that The Pride has appeared in public all in red. The new coats feature an interlocking "OU" logo on the front in white parquet, with "OKLAHOMA" on the sleeves in white embroidery on a black background with gray piping. They sure did look sharp on two national television broadcasts!
First up was the coverage from CBS, called the "CBS Thanksgiving Day Parade" because NBC has the rights to the name "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" and to the performances in Herald Square. The Pride appeared on CBS approximately one hour and 55 minutes after the coverage started, and showed the band playing Fight for OKU in Times Square. Here's the video from the CBS broadcast—you can hear The Pride behind an interview long before you can see them. Be sure to listen to Dave Price and Hannah Storm after the commercial break as they're unable to distinguish between Oklahoma and another Big 12 (heck, Big 8) school.
CBS's position was about 20 minutes ahead of NBC's Herald Square performance platform at the end of the parade. The Pride appeared on NBC approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes into the parade coverage, and while they definitely looked good in high-definition in those new red coats, we do wish NBC had shown more of the band members actually marching. It would have been nice to actually see those shiny new matching trombones!
Congratulations to all Pride members and staff, who should all be back in Norman by now preparing for rehearsals for Bedlam just 36 hours from when we post this. This is certainly a week they'll be talking about for many years—the members traveled over 3600 miles in the past week representing OU and Oklahoma, and those who performed in the Texas Tech band have logged an astonishing 4400 miles in just one week for The Pride. We couldn't be more proud of the way they've carried on our tradition!
November just got a lot more exciting for the 2007 Pride of Oklahoma!
On November 22, just six days after Oklahoma's Centennial, The Pride will be in New York City as the state's representative in the 81st annual Macy's® Thanksgiving Day Parade! That's right - the one with the balloons, Miracle on 34th Street, Al Roker, and everything else. Great thanks to the Oklahoma Centennial Commission and university administration for helping with the cost of such a tremendous opportunity.
We'll try to keep you updated with any ways you can help or support the Pride in New York. A quick look at the November 2007 events calendar shows that it's going to be an intense month: OU plays at Texas Tech on Saturday, November 17. Very shortly thereafter, The Pride travels to New York City to prepare for the Macy's Parade on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22. Then just two days later, it's bedlam as OU hosts OSU at Owen Field - and that could easily be an 11:00 AM CST kickoff for ABC Sports, too! (The Big 12 Championship game is just one week later in San Antonio, to boot.)
And we still haven't seen a definitive announcement about the date for Homecoming 2007! This page from the OU Alumni Association strongly implies that it's been chosen for October 13, but our event calendar had OU at Missouri on that day - but now, SoonerSports.com says the Sooners host the Tigers on that day, so it might be Homecoming 2007. At least it appears that it won't be in November! Stay tuned here for news and information as we get it, and BOOMER SOONER!
Oh boy, this was harder to judge than we'd expected! If you didn't read all the great stories about Pride experiences, click here and read them now - you missed out!
…the best stories about their first OU game as members of the Pride of Oklahoma.
As much fun as those stories were, they weren't "first game" stories and we had to pass them by - but you have our thanks for sharing them!
And the winner - OK, I can't decide, winners - are:
John Hudson for "I'm glad Coach didn't see me pick up my slide that I dropped" (and by the way, John, Coach wants to see you in his office next week about that&hellip)
Jay 'Jamie' Jones for "I told Coach I picked up my mouthpiece and he said 'Next time, just leave it'"
Terri for "He's not supposed to do that with the pylon, is he?" (No. No, he's not.)
Congratulations to all three, and thanks to everyone who entered. This was so much fun that we're going to do it again shortly, but this time for current Pride "Rah-Rah" CDs, so watch the site for the next contest announcement!
I won't judge how official anything is, but if you've never read the story behind O.K. Oklahoma, or heard the original 1939 debut on the NBC radio network, read the story O.K. Oklahoma at 65. (I updated the audio file tonight with a version that's easier to hear, and that's hosted on a faster server, so listen and enjoy!)
Ah, someone asked about that, too! No wonder - pay no attention to the Big Red Rally Web Page on OU's site, as it has not been updated in two years. Shame, shame. And we're volunteer labor here! (It is described on the schedule for Howdy Week 2006, though - it starts at 5:30 PM in Our Favorite Stadium.)
Can't say anything about "TBDBITL" (always up for debate in these parts, tho no offense intended), but The Pride performed Dr. Roland Barrett's arrangement of Scott Boerma's El Toro Caliente in both 2002 and 2005. Pride alums who can tell good stories about their first OU game in uniform can still win the 2005 CD with that recording on it, if they don't dawdle.
Here's a place to post your comments or memories about the Orange Bowl, as The Pride heads back to Miami as the Sooners pursue their eighth national championship!
The Pride last went to the Orange Bowl in 2000 (Coach's final season and OU's seventh national championship), but went four times in a row from 1984-1987, so lots of Pride Alumni should remember those trips to Florida.
Just click "Comment" to add your memories to the thread. (If you don't see "Comment", scroll to the bottom of the page and log in, or sign up if you haven't - it's free!)
