Journal #3: An Outsider's Perspective on OU and Brent Venables

Growing up in North Carolina as a UNC Tar Heels and ACC fan the Big-12 and Oklahoma never concerned me. The only reason Carolina fans had any reason to concern themselves with a team from the Big-12 is because Roy Williams came from Kansas and Mack Brown bounced around from Carolina to Texas and now back to Carolina. 

If you read my last entry "What it's Like Dating an Oklahoma Sooners Fan" you would know that I was in for a bit of a shock when my brain finally computed just how important Oklahoma Football was to the people of that state. It is not like Carolina Football where if the Tar Heels, or lose fans will just brush it off and carry on until the next Saturday. If Oklahoma loses, you might as well shut the entire state down. 

Being brand spanking new into the fanbase at 22-years-old, there is a lot of catching up to do. Lincoln Riley dipping and OU hiring a first year Head Coach was, selfishly, the best thing to happen for a new fan and here's why...

Bob Stoops was correct in saying that the OU Football program was made to last. If the team is not competing for a National Title every year changes will be made, that is just the culture that has been built over time. One thing that is for certain that either Venables is going to be "that guy" or he is going to be heading out of Norman, OK very fast. 

Nobody knows just who Head Coach Brent Venables is yet and this is something that myself and those who have been fans for 50 years have in common. This is how I connect myself better to the fanbase. I give Sydney a lot of crap because I know more about Venables than she does simply because it's new, I have no catching up to do, and OU's social media team makes it very easy to follow. 

I'm excited for this next year. This is the first time in my adult life that I have taken interest in a new team. It has always been the Chicago Bears, Charlotte Hornets, and Carolina Tar Heels. I truly feel like a kid again getting to experience having a new team to root for.