Sooner Schooner
Encyclopedia
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
Sooners
Oklahoma Sooners
The University of Oklahoma features 19 varsity sports teams. Both men's and women's teams are called the Sooners, a nickname given to the early participants in the land rushes which initially opened the Oklahoma Indian Territory to non-native settlement. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A,...
. Pulled by two white ponies named Boomer and Sooner
Boomer and Sooner (mascots)
Boomer and Sooner are two mascots of the University of Oklahoma and its sports teams, the Oklahoma Sooners. The main mascot present at football games is the Sooner Schooner, a Conestoga wagon, pulled by two crème white ponies, Boomer and Sooner...
, it is a scaled-down replica of the Conestoga wagon
Conestoga wagon
The Conestoga wagon is a heavy, broad-wheeled covered wagon that was used extensively during the late 18th century and the 19th century in the United States and sometimes in Canada as well. It was large enough to transport loads up to 8 tons , and was drawn by horses, mules or oxen...
used by settlers of the Oklahoma Territory
Oklahoma Territory
The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma.-Organization:Oklahoma Territory's...
around the time of the Land Run of 1889
Land Run of 1889
The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands and included all or part of the 2005 modern day Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne counties of the U.S. state of Oklahoma...
. Its name comes from the common term for such wagons ("prairie schooners") and the name for settlers who snuck into the Territory before it was officially opened for settlement ("Sooners
Sooners
Sooners is the name given to settlers in the midwest of the United States who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma before President Grover Cleveland officially proclaimed them open to settlement on March 2, 1889 with the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889...
").
The Schooner is maintained and driven by members of the RUF/NEKS
RUF/NEKS
The RUF/NEKS are an all-male student pep squad for the University of Oklahoma.-History:The earliest years of this student organization are not well known. The RUF/NEKS began in the late 1910s. In December 1915 at a basketball game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma A&M a group of football players were...
, the university's all-male spirit organization. At home football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
games and bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
s, 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
Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
The Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is the on-campus football facility for the University of Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, Oklahoma. The official capacity of the stadium, following recent renovations, is 82,112, making it the 16th largest college stadium in the United States and the third...
in 1964, and it became the University's official mascot in 1980.
Until 2011, when not in use, the Schooner was housed at the Bartlett Ranch outside Sapulpa, Oklahoma
Sapulpa, Oklahoma
Sapulpa is a city in Creek and Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 20,544 at the 2010 United States census, compared to 19,166 at the 2000 census...
, along with Boomer and Sooner. Boomer and Sooner now have a lovely new home.
The 1985 Orange Bowl
The 1985 Orange Bowl, played between the Sooners and the Washington HuskiesWashington Huskies
Washington Huskies is the nickname of the University of Washington's athletic teams. The school is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. The athletic program is made up of 9 men's sports and 10 women's sports Washington Huskies is the nickname of the University of Washington's athletic teams. The...
, is often called "the Sooner Schooner game" because of an incident during the game's second half.
The Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
area had received rain before the game, and the condition of the Orange Bowl
Miami Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl, formerly Burdine Stadium, was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, west of downtown in Little Havana. Considered a landmark, it was the home stadium for the Miami Hurricanes college football team...
'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
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
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
Kickoff (American football)
A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in American football and Canadian football. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team"...
unit trotted out and the Schooner, as was traditional, also trotted slowly onto the Orange Bowl
Miami Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl, formerly Burdine Stadium, was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, west of downtown in Little Havana. Considered a landmark, it was the home stadium for the Miami Hurricanes college football team...
's wet, mushy field. However, the 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
Unsportsmanlike conduct
Unsportsmanlike conduct is a foul or offense in many sports that is not necessarily a violation of the respective sport's rules of play, but violates the sport's generally accepted rules of sportsmanship and/or participant 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
Barry Switzer
Barry Switzer is a former football coach, active in the college and professional ranks between 1962 and 1997. He has one of the highest winning percentages of any college football coach in history, and is one of only two head coaches to win both a college football national championship and a...
, 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."
The "Sooner Schooner Mooner"
Another incident that drew national attention occurred in 1993 during a game against ColoradoUniversity of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, 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, the flag bearer, and the RUF/NEK queen onto the turf. The driver suffered a broken arm, but most of the crowd's attention was directed at the RUF/NEK queen, whose skirt flew up during the fall. She was not wearing any underwear.
See also
Similar vehicular mascots at other universities- The Boilermaker SpecialBoilermaker SpecialThe Boilermaker Special is the official mascot of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It resembles a Victorian-era railroad locomotive and is built on a truck chassis...
- A replica locomotive built on a truck chassis that serves as the official mascot of Purdue UniversityPurdue UniversityPurdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and... - The Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech - A 1930 Ford Model A Sport Coupe which serves as the official mascot of the student body at the Georgia Institute of TechnologyGeorgia Institute of TechnologyThe Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...