What Time is It? Who Cares OU Still Sucks

I have been walking on this planet for a long time. A very long time. You pick up a lot of life lessons along the way. One I have tried to live by is:

“Moderation in All Things.”

The essential thought is found in the work of the Greek poet Hesiod: ‘observe due measure; moderation is best in all things’,

I try to live by that thought. Except for one week out of the year.

This is that week.

I could go on and on, trying to articulate the feelings this Texas-OU game engenders annually. It is of no use. There are just guideposts that point to the passion of this rivalry

No one epitomizes the emotion of this week more than Darrell Royal. I can’t think of another elite rivalry game where one individual went from being an All-American player for one side to a Hall of Fame coach for the other. Royal participated as a player or coach in 24 of the meetings between the two rivals.

In 1946, when Royal was leaving the Air Force, he had a buddy of his, Kenny Baker, who had played freshman ball at Texas, write a letter of recommendation to the Longhorn coaches. Royal never heard from UT and went to OU. A a player for OU Royal was 2-2 in the series.

As a coach Royal was 12-7-1. Bob Stoops was 11-7 for OU. No other coach -for either side - has more than 9 wins.

But in a bitter series like this, sometimes it is’t the memory of wins that burn the most. Only when it means as much as Texas-OU does can a tie game become one of the most memorable contests ever played.

The 1976 game is exactly what I am talking about.

Feel The Hate

https://www.barkingcarnival.com/2012/10/11/3492130/1976-tx-ou-a-bitter-mean-end-of-an-era