Sooner Schooner

Sooner Schooner
The Sooner Schooner being driven by the RUF/NEKS at an OU football game in 2007.
University	University of Oklahoma
Conference	Big XII
Description	Conestoga wagon
First seen	September 26, 1964
Related mascot(s)	Boomer and Sooner

The Sooner Schooner is an official mascot of the sports teams of the University of Oklahoma Sooners. Pulled by two white ponies named Boomer and Sooner, it is a scaled-down replica of the Conestoga wagon used by settlers of the Oklahoma Territory around the time of the Land Run of 1889. Its name comes from the common term for such wagons ("prairie schooners") and the name for settlers who sneaked into the Territory before it was officially opened for settlement ("Sooners").

The Schooner is maintained and driven by members of the RUF/NEKS, the university's all-male spirit organization. At home football games and bowl games, the Sooner Schooner is driven onto the field in an arc that almost reaches the 50-yard line after every score. The RUF/NEK Queen sits next to the driver, and a young member of the RUF/NEKS usually hangs by his legs off the back, waving the university's flag. Until the late 1980s, it was customary for the schooner's driver to stand up while driving the ponies onto the field after scores, and duck down only an instant before reaching the stadium tunnel parking spot, barely clearing the tunnel ceiling—a practice eventually ended for safety reasons. The Schooner made its debut at Owen Field in 1964, and it became the University's official mascot in 1980.

History

The Sooner Schooner made its first appearance during a 1964 football game against USC. The Sooners lost that game by 26 points.^[1]

Until 2011, when not in use, the Schooner was housed at the Bartlett Ranch outside Sapulpa, Oklahoma, along with Boomer and Sooner.

The 1985 Orange Bowl

The 1985 Orange Bowl, played between the Sooners and the Washington Huskies, is often called "the Sooner Schooner game" because of an incident during the game's second half.

The Miami area had received rain before the game, and the condition of the Orange Bowl's natural grass playing surface deteriorated as the game moved into the third quarter. The game was tied 14–14 when the Sooners lined up for a short, 22-yard field goal which would have made the score 17–14 in Oklahoma's favor.

The kick sailed through the uprights and the Oklahoma sideline thought it was good; the kickoff unit trotted out and the Schooner, as was traditional, also trotted slowly onto the Orange Bowl's wet, mushy field. However, the field goal kick was nullified due to an illegal procedure penalty on Oklahoma. A Sooner player did not report his temporary jersey number to the officials, which he was required to do before the ball was snapped.

The Schooner was already out on the field before the Oklahoma sideline and the RUF/NEKS realized the kick had been disallowed. Worse, while moving across the wet, sloppy natural turf, the Schooner's wagon wheels ended up in a sticky, muddy patch of field and got stuck – right in front of the Washington bench. The Sooners were quickly penalized an additional 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

What was previously a 22-yard field goal became a 42-yard attempt after the 20 yards of penalties were marked off. The re-kick was blocked by Washington, and the game remained tied. Oklahoma ultimately lost the game 28–17.

Barry Switzer, Oklahoma's coach at the time, said later that he had never seen a flag thrown on the Schooner before or since, "but that wasn't the difference. It would have been closer. But they (Washington) were the better team that night."^[2]

The "Sooner Schooner Mooner"

Another incident that drew national attention occurred in 1993 during a game against Colorado. After a field goal by Oklahoma's Scott Blanton, the Sooner Schooner was driven out onto the field in celebration. However, the wagon took a corner too sharply and tipped over, spilling the driver (Scott Gibson), the flag bearer, and the RUF/NEK queen onto the turf.

References

↑ Rhode, John. "Schooner Celebrates 50th Anniversary". soonersports.com. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
↑ Hoover, John E. (2006-09-06). "The Schooner Game". Tulsa World. World Publishing Company. Retrieved 2007-05-16.

External links

University of Oklahoma

Academics

Athletics

Facilities	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Lloyd Noble Center L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park Field House Barry Switzer Center

Culture	RUF/NEKS Sooner Schooner Boomer and Sooner Bedlam Boomer Sooner

Football	Seasons Coaches In the NFL Draft Red River Shootout Red River Shootout trophies All-Americans Starting QBs Current season

Basketball	Men's basketball Women's basketball Coaches Men's seasons In the Drafts Current men's season Current women's season

Other sports	Baseball Softball Women's gymnastics

Campus

List of buildings Bizzell Memorial Library Boyd House Carl Albert Center Museum of Art National Weather Center Natural History Museum Student Union Westheimer Airport

People

List of University of Oklahoma people

Schools

Student life

Oklahoma Daily the WIRE Student Radio Campus Corner The Pride of Oklahoma Army ROTC

History

2005 bombing 2015 racism incident‎ Kanter Archives Ledbetter House McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents NCAA v. Board of Regents OU-PRIME Sipuel v. Board of Regents

Established: 1890 – Endowment: $1.32 billion – Students: 30,303

Oklahoma Sooners football

Venues	Boyd Field (1905–23) Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (1923–present) Barry Switzer Center

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Missouri (Tiger–Sooner Peace Pipe) Nebraska Oklahoma State: Bedlam Series Texas: Red River Showdown (Golden Hat)

Culture & lore	Championships T formation Wishbone formation Oklahoma drill Sooner Schooner Boomer and Sooner "Boomer Sooner" Marching band The Kick The Oklahoma Heismen Play Like a Champion Today

People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball

Venues	McCasland Field House (1928–1975) Lloyd Noble Center (1975–present)

Rivalries	Oklahoma State

Culture & lore	History List of conference championships Boomer and Sooner Sooner Schooner RUF/NEKS

People	Head coaches NBA draftees

Seasons	1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Mascots of the Big 12 Conference

Judge and Bruiser (Baylor)
Cy the Cardinal (Iowa State)
Big Jay / Baby Jay / Centennial Jay (Kansas)
Willie the Wildcat (Kansas State)
Sooner Schooner / Boomer and Sooner (Oklahoma)
Pistol Pete / Bullet (Oklahoma State)
Bevo / Hook 'em (Texas)
Super Frog (TCU)
The Masked Rider / Raider Red (Texas Tech)
Mountaineer (West Virginia)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.