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Homecoming 2009
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Want to see what both pre-game and halftime looked like from above last Saturday night? Click here.
(Adobe Flash required, so it won't play on an iPhone or iPod Touch. The video starts with the BYU Pre-game, but skip along the bottom row of thumbnails by clicking the "->|" icon and the last two, as of this writing, are the Kansas State Pre-Game Show (starting with the Alumni Band!) and Kansas State Halftime.
This is provided courtesy of CVWmedia, the videographers for The Pride, who are taking orders for the 2009 Pride of Oklahoma DVD—:$30 if purchased before November 15th, and $35 if purchased afterward.
Posted by Webmaster on 11/4/09; 12:12:38 PM
from the Alumni sightings, Gameday, Homecoming 2009, Pride of Oklahoma, Video dept.
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Update: And now, a day later, we know that the next home game on November 14, when the Sooners host the Texas A&M Aggies, will kickoff at 6:00 PM CST with regional coverage on Fox Sports Networks (FSN). That’ll make the schedule very similar to the Homecoming schedule, but without the parade and the OUBAA participation, of course. 
The Athletic Department just announced that Nebraska vs. OU will kick-off at 7:00 PM CST on ABC. The network had taken what I think was the last of their “six-day notice” opportunities for the season and not set the kickoff time until today or tomorrow. This is good news, because the game will be more widely available—had ABC not aired the game at either 2:30 PM or 7:00 PM, it would have gone to the Comcast network Versus, who would have aired it at 11:30 AM.
(A huge number of people do not have Versus, including the tens of millions DirecTV subscribers, because DirecTV was already paying Comcast more than the channel was worth given its ratings before September 2009. Then Comcast demanded something like an 80% increase in the cost to carry the channel, even though the ratings hadn’t gone up significantly in the four years that DirecTV had been paying more than it had already been worth. DirecTV stood firm, and Versus left DirecTV on September 1. ABC’s decision to carry the game means millions more people will see the 5-3 Sooners battle the 5-3 Huskers in one of the Big 12’s most traditional grudge matches.)
We’ll have a lot more on the aftermath of Homecoming 2009 in the next few days as everyone recovers, but please allow me to say both “thank you” for your kind words yesterday and for the treats, and to say that I thought that halftime exceeded my wildest expectations. When we start seeing videos of last night (as opposed to from November 1, 2007—you can tell the difference because last time, the Pride was wearing white coats, not red ones), we’ll start linking and embedding them on a special page here. But from me, thank you for an exceptionally memorable and fantastic Homecoming. I’m very proud to have been able to support all of you in ambitious performances like that one, and you all came through magnificiently.
Posted by Webmaster on 11/1/09; 12:16:18 PM
from the Gameday, Homecoming 2009, Pride of Oklahoma dept.
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 You asked for the schedule, and we have it! It's already on the Events calendar, but here it is as well:
| 10:45 AM |
Marching Rehearsal—Meet at the Everest indoor practice facility southeast of the stadium for Rehearsal with the Pride and Pre-game.
Please be ready to take the field at 10:45 AM. We suggest being there by 10:30 AM. |
| 12:45 PM |
Registration—for those who didn’t attend Friday’s Rehearsal (Beaird Lounge in Student Union). Refreshments served |
| 1:00 PM |
Business Meeting—Beaird Lounge – Second Floor Oklahoma Memorial Union |
| 2:30 PM |
Lunch—served in the Beaird Lounge, Oklahoma Memorial Union, for those who purchased lunch tickets. Serving will stop at 3:30 PM.
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| 3:00 PM |
Homecoming Parade Begins—for those wanting to watch |
| 5:00 PM |
Get instruments—Get into the game (leave plenty of time to get through tickets and security), get your instruments, and head towards the tunnels. |
| 5:45 PM |
Step-off—Pre-game Begins |
| 6:00 PM |
Kick-off—Time to take the Wildcats!! |
Click on the link above for a computer-generated version that you can get in printer-friendly form (and that's combined with The Pride's schedule), or click on the image to download your own version in PDF format.
The only ambivalence in the above schedule is "5:20 PM"—honestly, based on what we know, OUBAA Pre-game step-off is likely to be anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes after that actual time. We'll know more on Friday and will communicate the time and the procedures thoroughly on Saturday morning at rehearsal, but you can't go wrong if you're ready to go at 5:20 PM.
If there are any changes to this schedule, we will alert you through the mailing list so everyone gets it in their inbox, as well as posting it here. So if you haven't signed up for our mailing list yet, this would be a really good time to click this link and do that.
Ask Rita Heath if you have any questions, as this is Homecoming Week! Boomer Sooner!
Posted by Webmaster on 10/28/09; 3:49:59 AM
from the Gameday, Homecoming 2009, Membership, Pride of Oklahoma dept.
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Most FCS-division football schools would be really proud of a team that had three losses under these circumstances:
All in road games
All to ranked teams (#20, #11, and #2)
The total margin of defeat in all three games was just five points
Your Heisman-winning quarterback knocked out of two of those games in the first half with a shoulder injury
Still in position to win late in the fourth quarter, but just…didn't
I think in a place that didn't have an incredibly strong football tradition and seven national championships, they wouldn't feel bad about that record at all. We're not in such a place, and that means we always expect the best and are disappointed for our team and our band when it just doesn't happen. The Sooners are now 3-3 (1-1 in conference play) with six conference games left in the season.
It's not the season anyone imagined in August, but we don't wear the Crimson and Cream because they're fashionable. We wear those colors rain or shine. Some of you reading this are Pride alumni who marched for four solid years and yet never took a bowl trip. Others marched for five consecutive years and went to five bowl games without repeating a single destination. The bad times show how incredibly difficult it is to win a national championship, and make it all the more amazing that OU has seven of them.
It's now extremely unlikely that the networks will use a six-day option to set the kickoff time for the Kansas State game, so we should know the homecoming kickoff time at some point during the day on Monday. Once that's set, your officers will finish up the Saturday schedule, and we'll post it on here, on the Events calendar, and send it to the mailing list as soon as we have it.
UPDATE: Kickoff time for the homecoming game has been set at 6:00 PM. If you are on our mailing list or read our Events calendar, you probably knew that before you read it here! Schedule to follow when it's available.
By the way, we're starting to get some mailing list subscriptions disabled because too many messages have bounced, or the errors they're returning are fatal errors ("this account doesn't exist" and the like). If you haven't been getting any E-mail lately from our mailing list, please take a moment to sign up again by clicking on this mailing list link. We wouldn't want you to miss any news about Homecoming 2009. The game may not be a stepping stone to a national championship, but it's going to be great fun and a halftime you'll always remember!
BOOMER SOONER!
Posted by Webmaster on 10/17/09; 3:18:02 PM
from the Gameday, Homecoming 2009, Pride of Oklahoma dept.
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Click here to see the list of registered participants for Homecoming 2009. We’re updating this list periodically, but not instantly, so give us a few days after your registration to be sure.
If “give us a few days” would push that after October 1, then we still strongly encourage you to register now and avoid any last-minute hassles.
You are not logged in, so you’ll need either to log in, or join the site by registering (it’s free) to be able to see the list of marchers, as well as other members-only documents (including sheet music and other files as we have them to share.
Posted by Rita Heath on 9/24/09; 8:12:52 PM
from the Homecoming 2009 dept.
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If you are one of the many hundreds of thousands of handsome and intelligent people who have subscribed to our mailing list, you got the 2009 Newsletter and Homecoming Registration Forms in E-mail last night. Thanks, Rita!
We won't be mailing printed copies if we have an email address for you so if you haven't received a copy yet, you can still be as handsome/beautiful and intelligent as those who are already on the mailing list by getting your copies online, right now, for absolutely free:
Note that registrations for Homecoming 2009 must be postmarked by October 1, 2009! As with last year, we’ve adjusted the home page countdown as a gentle reminder to get yours in now and not to put it off. Slots are selling out fast, as far as you know!
You can, however, be the most handsomest and smarterest (or beautifulest) of all by registering online and paying with your major credit card or PayPal account. It's fast, it's easy, and you don’t have to put anything in the mail. Note: In the field for Instrument, add the word 'borrow' if you need to borrow a large brass, percussion instrument please. You still can, of course; you can bring a check to Homecoming on October 30th in the Newman Band Rehearsal Hall, just like always, if that’s what you prefer. But if you’d rather take care of it now, just click here.
Posted by Webmaster on 8/27/09; 1:40:01 AM
from the Homecoming 2009 dept.
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You can now pay for your Homecoming 2009 registration, football tickets, shirts, and even annual dues online via PayPal. Click here to pay your fees securely, online, instantly!
Posted by Webmaster on 8/27/09; 1:24:19 AM
from the Homecoming 2009 dept.
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We’re starting to see requests in E-mail for more information about Homecoming 2009 (registration, ticket prices, deadlines, and so forth), so I thought I'd post a quick update:
We don't know yet.
Getting all these things set requires coordination with the Band Deaprtment, the Athletic Department, Alumni Relations (to some extent), and I can’t even imagine what other groups, and classes don’t even start at OU for two more weeks (The Pride holds its pre-camp and auditions next week). We don’t yet know the details.
As soon as we do know, we’ll let you know here and on our mailing list. Joining the mailing list is the fastest way to get important announcements without needing to check the Web site (though feel free to use the site’s RSS feeds in your favorite reader if you’re as into that as I am). I’m told that the traditional paper newsletter is also in the works as soon as they know what numbers and dates to print in it.
(By the way, when you send mail to the mailing list, you’re asking to send it to the several hundred people who have subscribed. We stop that from happening if it’s obvious that’s not what you meant to do, but it comes back as a “rejection,” which can seem kind of harsh. That’s just how the software works. For individual questions, you can send E-mail to the OUBAA President or Secretary.)
Posted by Webmaster on 8/10/09; 4:34:39 PM
from the Homecoming 2009, Membership dept.
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I realize some of you think that adds up to “costumes,” but sadly, no more. It’s a different world than in the go-go 80’s, and since every game is now televised (I think only two games in the past ten years have not been), everyone wants legal clearance for any trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property that might appear on anyone’s costumes. (They even ask for proof, every year, that The Pride has the rights to play Boomer Sooner and Oklahoma! It’s mind-boggling.)
Nonetheless, two years ago, we had a home game on November 1, the day after Halloween, and a night game at that. The Pride responded with a timely show that got more applause than The Noble Men (and Women) of Kyle—The Pulse of the Spirit of Aggieland Nationally Famous Fightin’ Texas Aggie Marching Band, ending with a great classic pop song. It was so popular that the members voted to repeat it for that year’s bowl performance.
With the recent death of Michael Jackson, I’m sure members of the 2007 Pride and those familiar with the show have thought about it. Jackson’s music has been everywhere since June 25, and I simply cannot hear or see any part of Thriller now without thinking of that night on Owen Field. You can click here to see videos of the performance on YouTube.
Have you figured out the equation yet?
This week, Mr. Britt informed us that with Homecoming 2009 taking place on Halloween itself, the game’s halftime show will end with a joint Pride of Oklahoma and Alumni Band performance of Thriller. Both bands together, on the field, doing…
…well, doing Thriller things. I’m not going to try to predict what any part of it may look like, but you can watch the videos from last time to get a good idea of why this was so much fun. Some of you reading this know because you performed it in 2007. If your time in the Pride has ended, come back for Homecoming this year and perform it again!
This is going to be a lot of fun.
Posted by Webmaster on 6/30/09; 6:14:03 AM
from the Homecoming 2009, Pride History dept.
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Mark your calendars now, for we know when Homecoming 2009 is: it’s Halloween! The page linked above is for “Reunion,” an OU Alumni function with extra activities for specific graduating classes each year. They seem to be paired with significant anniversaries plus those from the following year, probably to account for things like five-year degrees for degree holders who felt more strongly aligned with their classmates who got their degrees in four years.
This year, Reunion honors the classes of 1954-1955 (55th anniversary), 1959-1960 (50th), 1964-1965 (45th), and the President’s Medallion Club.
However, after contacting the Alumni Office, they confirmed that this is also the date for Homecoming 2009: October 30-31, with Homecoming 2009 assigned to the Kansas State game on Halloween at Owen Field. Kickoff time probably won’t be set until 13 days before the game, as usual. (OU has set some kickoff times for the season, and those are now entered on our Events calendar.)
Obviously this is just the first bit of information that will be posted (and sent to our mailing list) as we receive and determine it. When we have a fee schedule for dues and tickets and everything else, we will again have those online as we did for last year’s fees, so you can easily and securely pay online via PayPal and order shirts, lunches, or whatever happens to be available.*
So keep your eye on this page, or subscribe to the mailing list, and we’ll let you know what we know as soon as we can. Homecoming vs. the Wildcats, once again coached by Bill Snyder, who is one of Coach Stoops’ mentors. It should be a good game! BOOMER SOONER!
(*Having no additional information at this time, this is no promise that there will be shirts, lunches, or anything else: it depends upon logistics and game times. They might be sweatshirts and breakfast for all I know. I’m just reporting dates. Don’t blame me.)
Posted by Webmaster on 6/17/09; 2:51:22 PM
from the Homecoming 2009 dept.
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From SoonerSports.com:
Oklahoma and Miami, whose original football date in 2009 was lost to a facility conflict at Dolphin Stadium, have rescheduled the game to Oct. 3 and the Sooner program has completed its schedule for next season.
The Alumni Association had previously said "this spring" to set a date for Homecoming/Reunion, but given the schedule as listed here, it's likely to be either vs. Baylor on October 10 or vs. Kansas State on Halloween. If you're thinking, "Ooh, Baylor, we want a team we can beat," remember the last time we played Baylor for homecoming—four years ago, in the Bomar era—and that it went into double-overtime before the Sooners pulled it out.
As the Athletic Department points out:
The three Football Bowl Subdivision teams on the non-conference slate were a combined 28-12 last season and all three played in bowl games. Including the Big 12 schedule, OU's 2009 slate will include eight bowl teams from the previous season.
Which is a way of saying "Yes, we realize Idaho State is a I-AA team, now called 'Football Championship Subdivision,' but did you read how hard it was just to get the previously scheduled Miami date to work out? And they've kind of gone downhill since we set the home-and-home series, but we're hoping they pull it back out." Four of the eight bowl teams won their bowls after the 2008 season.
As you would expect, our Events calendar is updated with the dates and locations (the home team is listed first, but I don't know who the home team is for the Jerry Jones Invitational on September 5 yet), so if you subscribe to it in iCal or Google Calendar or Vista Calendar, you should already have the dates on your schedule. Yay!
Posted by Webmaster on 1/22/09; 7:44:10 PM
from the Gameday, Homecoming 2009 dept.
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Any Sooner loss is disappointing to Sooner fans, particularly in a big big game. Speaking only for myself, I'm not as disappointed as I might have thought. After the 2003, 2004, and 2007 seasons, I was really crushed by the bowl losses, because the team I saw playing the bowl game was not the Oklahoma Sooners team I saw play much more strongly throughout the rest of those seasons.
The Sooners who played the Gators tonight were the Sooners I'd seen all season long.
Their only two losses were to top-five teams (and guess which of the two was the lower-ranked team), by ten points, after leading or being tied at halftime. In Dallas, the Sooners lost a key defensive player in the third quarter and couldn't compensate.
In Miami, the Gators just made some tremendous plays. While it is apparently in FOX's BCS contract that they announcers must not go ten seconds without complimenting Tim Tebow, to me, the real play of the game was that final Florida interception, where the defender literally took the ball out of the Sooners' hands. Had that drive completed, the Sooners would have gone ahead, and even Tim Tebow tends to get flustered when he's behind. (Did you see him run for 12 yards in the third quarter and react as if he deserved a trophy? That was…odd.)
(The more disappointing aspect of the evening was the aforementioned FOX booth team. I realize that Tebow's speech after Florida's loss to Ole Miss took the cynical sports media by surprise, but it was not the Sermon on the Mount.)
On the way to tonight's game, however, the Oklahoma Sooners picked up their sixth Big 12 South division title over the screaming objections of the guys who didn't beat Texas Tech, as well as their 42nd conference championship, and played in what is at least their 12th bowl game to decide the national championship. Bob Stoops got his 100th win as head coach, making Oklahoma the first and only program in major college football to have had four head coaches with at least 100 wins each (the other three are Barry Switzer, Bud Wilkinson, and Benny Owen). They set the record for the most number of weeks ranked #1 all-time in the AP poll, and extended their all-time lead for number weeks ranked #1 in the BCS.
And this quiet kid from Putnam City North won the Heisman Trophy, and made Kirk Herbstreit die just a little bit inside.
So you can see why I'm still proud of that team, and of the 2008 edition of the organization we have in common. The Pride of Oklahoma earned their name the entire way—as you could see for yourselves, because FOX had them on streaming webcam live throughout the entire game. Even now, well after the game is over, I'm still watching the drumline live in the stands at Dolphin Stadium during the BCS trophy presentation. (It just cut off at 11:00 PM CST.)
They did the uniform and Sooner Spirit proud, and we're honored to welcome the outgoing seniors into our membership.
You can now view the broadcast video of pregame and halftime, the broadcast video of the Florida band's halftime show ("Big Noise from Winnetka!" No kidding!), and the streaming webcam live footage from the overhead cable cam that showed all of both bands' halftime shows right here on our site. Just click here.
BTW, we sent both the streaming webcam news and the halftime video link to everyone on the OUBAA Mailing List before or during the game, so those of you on the list got the news faster and may have seen more. If you're not a member of our list, click here to join today and stay in touch with your fellow former Pride members.
With the end of the football season, news here slows down until we start planning for Homecoming 2009, sometime after we actually learn when it will be. (So far, we know it will be during a home game in the fall of 2009. Other than that, it's a bit up in the air.) We'd welcome Sooner Showmen or WBB alumni who wanted to keep the home page updated for basketball season, so if you're interested, drop me a line.
Also, very soon we'll have ways to donate securely, online, to the OU Band Alumni's accounts at the OU Foundation, so you can help future members of The Pride in their academic and musical careers. Donations to these accounts are tax-deductible and will be made securely, online, through the Foundation's Web site but directed to our specific scholarship accounts. There will even be a link on the page to click to see if your company will match your gift, doubling the scholarhip potential of your donation. We'll have more about that when it's ready, but I wanted to give a heads-up about how easy it's going to be.
Until we meet again, it has been a privilege bringing you news this year, and —hmm, do I hear a concert A♭?
O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A
Our chant rolls on and on!
Thousands strong
Join heart and song
In alma mater’s praise
Of campus beautiful by day and night
Of colors proudly gleaming Red and White
’Neath a western sky
OU’s chant will never die.
Live on University!
Posted by Webmaster on 1/8/09; 11:16:42 PM
from the Gameday, Homecoming 2009, Pride of Oklahoma dept.
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This Page was last updated: Friday, November 6, 2009 at 12:26:58 PM
This page was originally posted: 2/25/10; 12:38:28 PM
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