Red River Rivalry

So. This weekend is the big game. The one for state bragging rights. The one held at the Cotton Bowl in the middle of the State Fair of Texas. That's right, it's time for Texas/OU weekend.

This is the 101st anniversary of the epic rivalry, coined by some as the "Red River Rivalry" due to the fact that it's the Red River that separates the state of Texas from the state of Oklahoma. In the college football world (specifically the Big 12 world), this game has many implications... The winner of this game usually ends up winning the Big 12 South and often the Big 12 Championship. The winner of the Big 12 Championship definitely gets a BCS berth, but more than that, the winner of the championship game has a solid shot to play for the National Championship. And even bigger than that, high school football recruiting is at stake in this game.

So much has been written and reported on this game throughout the years. People have written about state pride, boycotting goods made from the other state, trash talk, and good-natured ribbing are a constant in the world of fans from both schools. The past week has brought much of that home (the parody videos on youtube, the email chains with score predictions, the links to ESPN and CNN-SI, the classic clips of games past). In fact, my husband just forwarded me a link to a new beer being sold in town called OUSUX beer. Unreal.

Once upon a time, this game was the high point of my fall social schedule. Lavish weekends in Dallas (the home of the game AND almost equidistant from both Norman, OK and Austin, TX) were planned with first sorority and fraternity parties, then alumni gatherings, dinners out, pep rallys, early morning dive-bar hopping, and shopping for the perfect game day attire. Then my darling Longhorns were blown out by the sooners and I witnessed the entire massacre, in the rain, from start to finish. Then I witnessed four additional losses. Then last year, we won again, and won the national championship. It's funny, though. On that cold, wet, miserable day in 2000, I sort of lost interest in the whole to-do.

Now I just want my team to win, but I won't make as much effort to be there.