The Norman Transcript

Headlines

Related Photos

Discussion

October 23, 2012

There were no cheap seats on that day in ’57

By Robert Ferrier The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — As a 16-year-old in 1957, I rode a school bus to Norman with several other Hugo High School football players.

We would buy a 50-cent ticket and sit in the south stands of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Not on Nov. 16th, Statehood Day.

Notre Dame had arrived, attracting 500 Catholic priests and nuns in the east stands.

They would be loud enough to wake the echoes.

Under leaden skies, I muscled through the milling throng outside the stadium and found Cecil Samara, OU’s self-proclaimed No. 1 Fan. Garbed in crimson and cream, he stood by his Model T, The Big Red Rocket.

I pleaded my case.

He stared, then lifted his bull horn and barked a command. 

A rich guy in a 10-gallon hat walked up.

For five dollars, I bought a ticket to history.

Bud’s Boys were favored, but the Fighting Irish drove 80 yards in the closing minutes. When Dick Lynch scored on a sweep, the 500 priests and nuns screamed like 5,000.

The Fighting Irish had broken our 47-game win streak.

And our hearts.

I walked on the field through the milling players.

Someone, seeking a piece of history, ripped the tearaway jersey from Bill Krisher’s back.

The All-American guard from Perry continued walking, glassy-eyed.

Now, more half-a century later, the Fighting Irish return. 

They had beaten us again in 1966, but I was living in Florida and missed the game.

On Saturday, holding a more expensive ticket, I’ll watch the Fighting Irish return.

Cecil is gone, his Big Red Rocket parked somewhere in history.

Yet the priests and nuns will be back. 

Will 80,000 Sooner fans wake the echoes?

 

For local news and more, subscribe to The Norman Transcript Smart Edition, or our print edition.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Headlines
  • Oklahoma Tornado Disoriented and displaced residents make their way back to devastated homes

    Sparks of joy lit up grief-stricken eyes from time to time on Wednesday after Moore residents were allowed back into their neighborhoods for the first time after Monday’s EF-5 tornado devastated much of the city....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • dog_wreckage More shelters in forecast

    MOORE — Ten children are dead, and Mayor Glenn Lewis wants tornado shelters included in all new homes built in Moore. A proposed municipal ordinance would require a shelter either inside or outside....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • clean up 19 School administrators focused on the recovery, future

    MOORE — Just days after Moore Public Schools suffered the loss of nine students and complete destruction of Plaza Towers and Briarwood Elementary schools, administrators take it a day at a time, as details continue to emerge from affected ...

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Challpress1 State Senate approves $45 million from Rainy Day fund for relief

    OKLAHOMA CITY — The state Senate voted Wednesday to take $45 million from the state Rainy Day Fund for immediate tornado disaster relief....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • tornadomom Mother endures labor during tornado

    Shayla Taylor was ready to give birth to her second child just as the impending destruction of Monday’s EF-5 tornado bore down on the Moore Medical Center.

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Oklahoma visitor had brush with tornado’s fury

    MOORE — Tim Lawrence was just in town to visit his family, but he had to huddle close with them in a storm cellar Monday afternoon as the tornado swept through the neighborhood....

    May 23, 2013

  • Family shelter saves 11 lives

    MOORE — Ronnie and Sally Horn built their retirement home 15 years ago. It was a vision of comfort set against a wooded background. The yard was well manicured. The picket fence was white. The pond out back was as clear as any in Oklahoma. ...

    May 24, 2013

  • OU ready to keep victims all summer

    Juan Flores moved into the Walker Center dormitory Wednesday at the University of Oklahoma. He was shown to his new room, pre-furnished with a bed, desk and closet. He spent his first evening watching football on one of the communal TVs in ...

    May 24, 2013

  • Expert: Schools need shelters

    Ninety-four percent of Oklahoma schools do not have tornado shelters, according to Gov. Mary Fallin, even though at least one weather expert says they should be standard. With two Moore schools destroyed in Monday’s EF-5 tornado — and ...

    May 24, 2013

  • Tornado took town’s youngest as it swept through Moore

    MOORE — One loved the spotlight. Another was nicknamed “The Wall” because of the force he brought to the soccer field. When a top-of-the-scale EF-5 tornado ripped through Moore, it took with it 24 lives. Seven of them were children at ...

    May 24, 2013