NORMAN — Well, they thought they were going to play, anyway. That was the fun part. That’s when the Crosstown Clash was really rolling.
North coach Lance Manning, huddled with his coaches, out of the weather, also outside the carnival that was taking place under the east bleachers, told me it was happening in 40 minutes.
It was 8 p.m.
Everybody was thinking just another half hour, another half hour, another half hour. Because that’s how long the lightning must go away to play ball. But they ran out of half hours Thursday night at Owen Field.
Or, really, just outside Owen Field. On Owen Field were just a bunch of glum administrators and some Sooner brass, keeping an eye on things.
The action was underneath the empty seats.
Give them some ledges, some beads and it would have been Bourbon Street underneath the bleachers. Just as long as everybody ordered Shirley Temples.
“Yeah, it’s pretty fun getting hyped up,” said Ben Anderson, Norman North sophomore.
Why not?
The North band was playing that drum beat every band plays. The one I heard for the first time at McGuinness in 1982. The one that makes it hard to sit still.
So nobody sat still.
Not the students.
Not the parents.
Some danced.
Others body surfed.
A chant went out.
“North. North. North. North.”
If the Timberwolves’ faithful were ready for a counter-chant from Tiger fans, it never materialized. About 10 minutes later, some NHS fans gave it a shot, but they were quickly shouted down.
Eric Stephens is a true believer.
His son, Drew, is a senior at North. Two other kids have gone through North. That they weren’t playing ball wasn’t a problem.
“It’s all about the school. It’s all about the spirit,” he said. “You do it because you’re part of the community. You do it because you have to do it.”
Only it looked like he was doing it because he wanted to do it. Just like everybody else.
Almost like it was better that way. Better that everybody found themselves trapped under the east bleachers. Better than having to walk outside, into the stadium, where more than 70,000 seats were bound to remain empty even if everybody stuck around.
They were sticking around.
My daughter’s first Clash, she was surrounded by Whittier and softball friends, all of them North freshman. I asked them if they’d be there even if they kicked off at 11 p.m. Everybody said they would.
“They’ve been waiting all year for this,” Harper Horning told me, like the Crosstown Clash was some rite of passage.
Maybe it is.
“Everybody’s pumped up waiting for it,” said Savannah Granados, another North sophomore, though she could hardly have known at the time waiting for it would mean waiting until 7 p.m. today at Harve Collins Field.
Let’s hope the enthusiasm holds.
Last season, the atmosphere was great, or as great as it could ever be alongside almost 75,000 empty seats.
Thursday night, along the perimeter of Owen Field, underneath the bleachers, the atmosphere was far better. But they didn’t’ play football.
Tonight, they’ll finally play and it might be better than ever, because when was the last time any athletic event really packed them in at either high school?
Just maybe, tonight.
Maybe it belongs at The Harve anyway.
The spirit’s out there.
It was out there Thursday night.
Stick everybody in a confined space and they all get along, loving their school and their team more than ever.
Here’s hoping they can keep it going all the way to kickoff.
Clay Horning 366-3526 cfhorning@normantranscript.com
