It never ceases to amaze me the degree to which OSU faithful will go to manufacture a rivalry with OU in reality that matches the one in their collective heads.

Boone Pickens, in an effort to buy the tradition the Pokes could never earn on the field, is subsidizing a rebuild of the entire OSU athletic program, including the bowling of a stadium that's never been consistently more than half full at its *current* capacity, yet all they can talk about is "beat OU, OU sux, OU isn't that good..." Good grief, get a grip, get a life, something. I hear Ags gripe endlessly about how they don't get the props OU gets, yet they're seemingly clueless that the way to earn those props is to stop trying to emulate OU and win something on your own. But, as I've heard too many OSU fans over the years say, "I'd rather go 1-10 and beat OU than anything else." Boy, how about that for grand aspirations. Fortunately, from a generic "football fan" perspective, OSU has a coach who is probably better suited to take OSU to the next level than any coach in their previous 20 years.

For me, as a lifelong Sooner fan, and OU graduate, OSU is just another team we play that's an obstacle to our greater perpetual ambitions of conference and national championships, all of which is part of the tradition and legacy OSU can only dream about. Yes, there's a degree of in-state novelty to playing and beating OSU, but that's all there is. While OSU seeks to better a team a couple of hours south, OU seeks to win nationwide.

Oh, and by the way, I'm delighted the names are back on the jerseys

-sd