(Baby) Boomer Sooner!

On Saturday I took Missy to the OU football game for her birthday.
We had a great time, but the highlight of the game was the guy sitting directly behind us.
When I titled this blog, (Baby) Boomer Sooner!, what I meant is that this dude's kids were probably baby boomers. He was pretty old.
He had a radio and some cheap headphones, which had OU stickers over each of the ears.
Before I go any further, you should know who Toby Rowland and Merv Johnson are. Rowland is the play-by-play voice of the Oklahoma radio broadcast, and Merv does the color commentary.
I'm not big on listening to games that I'm attending, but in the case of Saturday's game I didn't have a choice. This guy behind us repeated nigh near everything Toby and Merv said throughout the game.
As a journalist, I can at least appreciate the fact that this guy attributed all of his quotes. After a long pass, he'd say, "Toby said Landry (Jones, the OU quarterback) couldn't have dropped that one in any better!!!" After a big hit on defense, he's say, "Merv said that running back will be hearing bells for a week!!!"
And I'm telling you, he repeated something one of those guys said after EVERY play.
Typical of someone his age, he didn't exactly have an inside voice. There were 85,000 people at this game, which wasn't nearly enough to drown out this dude. If receiver Kenny Stills made a good play, he'd go, "KENNY!... KENNY!... KENNY! ... Merv said he's quicker than a rabbit chasing a squirrel!!!"
When OU got close to scoring, he liked to suggest plays. "GIVE IT TO WHALEY!!! WHALEY TO THE LEFT!!!" This would seem ridiculous, but he was probably loud enough for the OU coaches to hear him, even though we were on the opposite side of the field.
He disappeared near the end of the first quarter, appearing on the field to be honored with other members of the 1956 National Championship team. Props to him for that -- a pretty awesome accomplishment.
Less awesome was what happened in the second half.
At OU games, the fans hold up their index finger before every kickoff, shouting "OOOOOOOOO" until the kicker approaches the ball and then one loud "U!" as his foot hits the ball.
Now then, my wife and I are both wearing OU shirts, cheering after every good play, high-fiving after every touchdown, and doing the traditional kickoff chant.
OU ended up winning the game 62-6, and I'm not sure what the score was when this happened, but suffice it to say that OU had already scored a lot, and this guy had seen us doing a lot of cheering.
So it was a little odd when he tapped me on the shoulder following one particular kickoff. He said, "Why were you doing the Hook 'em Horns sign?"
For those of you who don't know, Oklahoma's biggest rival is Texas. Texas fans do the Hook 'em Horns sign. It looks like this. Clearly this not something that anyone -- especially not an OU fan -- would want to do in the midst of 85,000 OU fans.
I just laughed and said, "No Hook 'em Horns for me."
He continued. "No, no, no. I saw your pinky finger in the air. What's the deal with that, son?"
I said, "I'm an OU fan. I promise I wasn't doing the Hook 'em Horns."
He leaned over to his friend and not-so-quietly said, "I know I saw that pinky finger up. He was doing the Hook 'em Horns!!!"

Ah well. I hope that man is really happy on Saturday, and he will be if OU kicks Texas' teeth in when the teams meet in Dallas. Merv said that would be sweeter than your grandma's apple pie. Boomer Sooner!