In 2000 When I got rejected by BYU I asked my professor what University in the State of Oklahoma was the best one in my program. He said "Absolutely Oklahoma State University." So I moved there. My Fiancé was from there and she gave up BYU to move there with me. We got married and I worked lawn care around Tulsa while I obtained residency. While there I was shocked at how much football was intertwined into the culture. As thousands of people would attend high school games and a good 900 would attend a Junior high game easily.

I was excited to get to Stillwater. As far as football went, I found a community that loved their football team but wasn't a winning team. The stadium was old and rusty. It was often called rustolium. As a student I had a lot of football players in my classes and a job that put me close up with fans from opposing teams. The team was confident and they had an eclectic coach but really good game manager - in Les Miles. In the first year I was there (2001) we lost so many games but at the years end we beat OU. Even though we lost so many games that year I had never been in a stadium with so much energy - even with small crowds. I loved college football before but loved it so much more after that first year.

The next year the team was confident and knew they were good. And made a bowl game for the first time in a long time. But the highlight was a 38-28 beating of OU at home. That day my wife and I had beer poured on by drunk sore OU losers.

Eventually, as you know, Les Miles leaves and T-Boone and Gundy enter. Together they built a stadium and a consistent winner. We always had a hard time beating OU but we were winning the right way. Unlike the school down south who was using bags of money, steroids from Schmitty, house payments to players parents, illegal jobs, and such. It's not like Oklahoma state didn't have it's problem players in the 2000's but it was/has been a program worth supporting. The wins over OU have been sparse and it was always a pain to hear the biased Oklahoma media and the trash talking by OU fans. But our victories were sweet.

I got to rub shoulders with lot of opposing fans. Texas Tech fans were always the worst - not even close. Nebraska and Texas fans were always the best. I swear that you won't find a more welcoming and appreciative fans anywhere as Texas fans. Their fans were great but the university politics not so much. They ruled the Big XII in everything. They wanted 100% control of the conference. Texas alone was the reason Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, and Texas A&M left. And when they left Texas didn't act any better. But by my recollection I think we beat them 8 times in the last 13 years in football. Texas wasn't that great on the field but they had so much control off the field.

I hope Texas and OU struggle in the SEC. I'm glad we can forge a conference and path without them.