Berry Tramel watched The Pride

Oklahoman sports columnist Berry Tramel watched the OU Homecoming Parade last week, like many of you did, except this was the first one he's ever seen: With that said, the floats were fun and the band was totally cool. Watching the Pride of Oklahoma walk by literally 15 feet from you is like watching a football game from the sidelines. Totally new perspective. For one thing, the marching of a band is totally underrated. The musicians have to take these tiny little steps, sort of like moving furniture, carrying a sofa or something that blocks your knees and you have to baby-step it. Same with the trombonists. Definitely not easy to do. Also, I never noticed, but the tuba players don’t wear hats. I wonder if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But the band is totally cool. I love marching bands and OU has a good one. I'm not saying anything about the hats. I know better. Posted by Webmaster on 10/21/08; 10:52:16 PM from the Homecoming 2008, Pride of Oklahoma dept. Discuss #

Homecoming 2008 Successful!

Of course, it was fantastic to see our Sooners beat the #11-ranked Jayhawks 45-31 for 2008 Homecoming, as that puts OU at 6-1 and gives the Sooners the #4 spot in today's first-of-the-season BCS rankings! We're ahead of #5 USC, and also ahead of #6 (eek!) Oklahoma State. But our part was a great day too! Seven former drum majors and 130 alumni returning to Owen Field in a true homecoming. May I say, having watched from the side, that all the alumni marched really well. If you'd had two rehearsals, you might have been good enough to make SportsCenter! And so the red box at the top of the home page vanishes until next fall, when it's time to start planning for Homecoming 2009! Just to be on the safe side, we've removed everything but the annual dues from the Pay Online page, but fear not: if you want to pay for something easily, contact Ann Darnold and she can tell you how to use the PayPal account for anything you want. (I believe it was mentioned that because of the way bank accounts work, donations or other fund transfers through PayPal are not tax deductible. Those have to go through the OU Foundation and can't be for actual goods (like tickets, shirts, lunches, and so on). It may have been the longest OU football game I've ever seen (four hours!), but it was a great day for The Pride and the OU Band Alumni Association. Please feel free to comment here and share your thoughts on the day. (And if you weren't there, why not? We had seven former drum majors, and would have had eight if Eric Shannon was not recovering from illness [hi Eric! We missed you!]. You really missed a fun day, so make sure you don't repeat that in 2009!) Up next for the Sooners: playing Kansas State in Manhattan at 11:30 AM on Saturday. The Pride will send a pep band, and will next perform in full on the field in two weeks when the Nebraska Cornhuskers return to Owen Field. Kickoff time should be set within the next 24 hours, so watch our Events calendar for details on the game and all Pride performances! Posted by Webmaster on 10/19/08; 4:51:22 PM from the Alumni sightings, Gameday, Homecoming 2008, Pride of Oklahoma dept. Discuss #

2008 Homecoming Schedule posted!

With kickoff time only being set on Sunday, it took effort from your officers to get everything worked out, but we believe we have the schedule, and here it is! 9:00 AM Marching Rehearsal—Meet at the Everest indoor practice facility southeast of the stadium for Rehearsal with the Pride and Pre-game 10:45 AM Registration—for those who didn’t attend Friday’s Rehearsal (Beaird Lounge in Student Union). Refreshments served 11:00 AM Business Meeting—Beaird Lounge – Second Floor Oklahoma Memorial Union 11:30 AM Parade Begins—for those wanting to watch 12:15 PM Lunch—served on the South Oval for those who purchased lunch tickets. Serving will stop at 1:15 PM. Pride members should be served before Alumni Band members. 1:30 PM North End Zone—Meet in North End Zone for Pre-game (be sure to give yourself enough time to get through security!) 2:00 PM Step-off—Pre-game Begins 2:30 PM Kick-off—Jayhawk Cookout Begins Click on the link above for a computer-generated version that you can get in printer-friendly form (and that's combined with The Pride's schedule), or click on the image to download your own version in PDF format. There remains a slight possibility of changes, but it's slight. If there are any changes to this schedule, we will alert you through the mailing list so everyone gets it in their inbox, as well as posting it here. So if you haven't signed up for our mailing list yet, this would be a really good time to click this link and do that. We hope to see everyone tonight (for the concert), Friday (for rehearsal), and Saturday (to beat those Jayhawks!). Boomer Sooner! Posted by Webmaster on 10/16/08; 4:02:03 AM from the Gameday, Homecoming 2008 dept. Discuss #

2008 Homecoming FAQs

Got questions? We've got answers! Click here to read the 2008 Homecoming FAQs Posted by Rita Heath on 10/14/08; 11:03:02 PM from the Gameday, Homecoming 2008 dept. Discuss #

Symphonic bands in Homecoming Concert Thursday!

The University Bands kick off Homecoming 2008 festivities with the opening concert of the Fall 2008 semester for the Wind Symphony and Symphony Band, performing at 8:00 PM on Thursday, October 16, in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall in Catlett Music Center on the OU campus. The Symphony Band, under the direction of Mr. Brian Britt, will perform Blue Lake Overture, composed in 1971 by John Barnes Chance for the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp of Twin Lake, MN. Other selections include Gustav Holst's First Suite in E-Flat for Military Band, Frank Ticheli's Joy Revisted, and John Philip Sousa's Pathfinder of Panama. The Wind Symphony, directed by Dr. William K. Wakefield, presents the wind premiere of Kevin Walcyzyk's Celebration Fanfare (2003); as well as Carl Orff's Carmina Burana; Percy Grainger's Children's March; Alberto Ginastera's Danza Final (Malambo), the fourth and final movement from his ballet Estancia, Op. 8 (1941); and also Don Grantham's Don't You See? Tickets for this Sutton Series concert are $8 for adults, and $5 for students, seniors, faculty, or staff. Tickets are available at the Catlett box office; call the Fine Arts Tickets Service at (405) 325-4101 for more information. The concert is also slated to be streamed live over the Internet via QuickTime—visit the OU School of Music home page at 8:00 PM on Thursday and click the "Live-Stream" link to listen on your computer. Streaming is great, but nothing beats showing up in person to hear OU's current student musicians performing classic and brand new works for the wind repertoire, and during homecoming week, too! We hope to see you all there to support the band programs! Click on the poster image above to get your own PDF version of the poster, suitable for framing and posting everywhere you go where people might see it. Posted by Webmaster on 10/14/08; 6:49:19 PM from the Homecoming 2008, OU Music dept. Discuss #

Gameday Schedule coming together (Updated!)

We learned on Sunday that kickoff time for OU vs. Kansas is 2:30 PM, and today we got The Pride's schedule for the day, so we'ev updated our Events calendar accordingly. It still does not have the times or specifics for the OUBAA Business Meeting or the OUBAA Lunch, but I expect those within 24 hours. We do know, however, that morning rehearsal with The Pride is at 9:15 AM in the Everest Training Center. the same indoor practice facility we used last year just east of the Collums Building, which itself is just east of the stadium across Jenkins. Even easier: Everest is #89 on OU's Campus Map. The Alumni Band will rehearse halftime (Fight for O.K.U.) with The Pride at 9:15, so be there ready to get on the field! The Pride dismisses at 9:50 AM, but we'll stay for a few minutes to get the pregame drill worked out. Everyone should be out by 10:15 AM. For a quick, online, Saturday-only schedule you can view or even get in printer-friendly format, click here. For faster updates, be sure to subscribe to our mailing list and get breaking homecoming or OUBAA news in E-mail. Just to throw something extra in for our Web readers: Jerry Palm's wonderful CollegeBCS.com site dissects the BCS ratings every way possible, including projecting them before the first official release next week. As of now, five of the six BCS computers are providing ratings, as are both of the polls. Last week, the computers were not very convinced about Oklahoma even though the polls were. This week, the computers love the Longhorns: they're #1 in four of the five rankings, and #2 in the other one. If these BCS rankings were published today? OU would be #5, behind Texas, Alabama, Penn State, and USC. #6? Oklahoma State—followed by Texas Tech, Utah, Florida, Georgia, BYU, Ohio State, Missouri, and Boise State. Only conference champions or BCS Top 14 teams are eligible for BCS bowls. OSU is number six! There's clearly much to be done, friends! Posted by Webmaster on 10/12/08; 8:58:07 PM from the Homecoming 2008 dept. Discuss #

IT'S HOMECOMING WEEK! (updated)

That didn't go as we would have hoped, but we knew two top-five teams meeting in a heated rivalry would be an intense game. Despite injuries, our Sooners hung in through the very last play, and so did The Pride of Oklahoma. Update: Here's news coverage of The Pride's stop in Duncan on Friday from KSWO-7 (no video) and from the Duncan Banner, and the Norman Transcript's story about the band's OU-Texas trip. But there's no time for any of that now. It's Homecoming 2008! Two quick points: The last time Texas won the Red River Rivalry, OU went on to win both the Big 12 South and the Big 12 conference championship. #16 Kansas, our opponent next week, today defeated Colorado 30-14. KU is also 5-1, and comes to Norman next week with a lot to prove against our Sooners. We have much to do. There's a Wind Symphony and Symphony Band concert on Thursday that we'll post more about on Monday, and then we have our own work to do: the 2008 University of Oklahoma Alumni Band! We've already posted a list of over 120 marchers for next Saturday, including eight drum majors! We have rehearsal Friday night, and we'll have a schedule within 48 hours as soon as ABC decides if they'll cover the game at 2:30 PM or 7:00 PM. (My gut feeling remains that if Missouri beats OSU tonight, then Missouri-Texas will be in prime time.) So there's no time for looking back! The Big 12 and Big 12 South are still wide open, and this game is going to be big! Are you current on your music? Click here to get parts. Have you paid all of your fees or for your lunches or shirts or tickets? Click here to pay it all instantly and securely (you can even pay your annual dues if you can't make it to Homecoming this week). Should your name be on the list of marchers but isn't, or you want it to be? Contact Rita Heath immediately! 5-1 makes OU a top-ten team and the season is only half over, so it's time to step it up in support of our Sooners and "The Pride of Oklahoma!" Let's get fired up for Homecoming! Posted by Webmaster on 10/11/08; 2:55:06 PM from the Gameday, Homecoming 2008 dept. Discuss #

2008 Homecoming marching list!

Rita has posted the list of people marching at Homecoming 2008. If your name is not on it and should be, or if any of the information beside your name is wrong, please contact Rita Heath as soon as possible to get it corrected. Homecoming 2008 is only two weeks away! Fire up for marching excellence! Posted by Webmaster on 10/1/08; 10:54:27 PM from the Homecoming 2008 dept. Discuss #

Pay Online for Homecoming 2008! (dues, too!)

You can now pay for your Homecoming 2008 registration, football tickets, shirts, and even annual dues online via PayPal. Click here to pay your fees securely, online, instantly! Posted by Webmaster on 9/29/08; 10:41:29 PM from the Homecoming 2008, Membership dept. Discuss #

Contact information

Please do not call the band office (University Bands) if you have band alumni questions—their days are extremely full, and we don't wish to add to that. Click here to read the full entry for telephone and E-mail contact information about Homecoming 2008. Posted by Rita Heath on 9/23/08; 2:05:42 PM from the Alumni sightings, Gameday, Homecoming 2008, Humor, Membership, Merchandise, Pride History dept. Discuss #

Homecoming 2008 Music

If you're playing at Homecoming 2008 and want to practice, here's a reminder about where to find three of the rah-rahs: Fight for OKU Boomer Sooner Oklahoma (2006) You are not logged in right now, so you'll need either to log in, or join the site by registering to see this information, but it's quick and free, so join us now! Posted by Webmaster on 9/14/08; 3:34:57 PM from the Homecoming 2008, OU Music dept. Discuss #

Letter from former (recent) Pride Drum Majors

We recently received the following letter from the four immediate past drum majors of The Pride of Oklahoma: September 1, 2008 Dear Pride Alumni, We hope this letter finds you well. It is hard to believe another season of Sooner football is upon us. For most of us, it is well past due! Certainly no season would be complete without the support of the Pride. We are sure you can all remember preparing for our first run out of the tunnel to a roaring crowd of Sooner fans. It’s an experience any Pride alum can never forget. Perhaps what are more memorable are the people with which we ran out of those tunnels. Our relationships with our fellow Pride members are the foundation for all of our fond memories. Fellow alumni, it is time to relive those days. Once again the time to participate in alumni band is upon us! This is the chance to set aside some time to dust off those old marching shoes, take a walk around our beloved campus, and rekindle old friendships, all while getting the chance to march in front of 87,000 Sooner fans. It’s an opportunity most of us would give anything to relive! Speaking truthfully though, most of us have not embraced this opportunity. There seems to be a stigma surrounding this experience we just cannot seem to shake. Perhaps we feel we are too old to be marching again. We say to ourselves, “I just graduated and I’ll look bad if I go back!” Our favorite excuse, however, is “there is no one I know going back.” Fellow alumni, this is one tradition we will NOT continue. We strongly urge you to participate in this year’s Pride alumni band. We, as the Pride’s four immediate past drum majors, have come together as a group to pledge our attendance at the game and perform the famed “Pride of Oklahoma Strut” at this year’s HOMECOMING game on October 18th. Between the four of us, we have attended ZERO alumni events in a total of TEN years of alumni bands, but it only took attending one Pride rehearsal together to realize what we have been missing out on all these years. To stand together and reminisce about our days was something truly meaningful for the four of us. We left the rehearsal all stating: “I wish we were out there doing this again.” We are positive you would feel the same way. Sometimes the smallest reminders can be our largest influences. It is time to start a new tradition in the Pride’s history: coming together as a large, strong, and supportive group of alumni, young and old, to support an organization we all hold close to our hearts. We strongly urge you to participate in what will truly be the greatest alumni band to date. We promise you, you will not regret it. Please contact Alumni Band President Gail Richardson or Alumni Band Secretary Rita Heath, to register for the homecoming weekend festivities. We look forward to seeing you on October 18! Boomer Sooner, Clint Williams 2002, 2003 Kyle Wiemar 2004, 2005 Eric Shannon 2006 Chauvin Aaron 2007 Immediate Past Drum Majors, Pride of Oklahoma Maybe we will feel a little more energy stirring in our midst this year! Have you called your friends from the college years to talk them into joining you at homecoming this year? Don't just think about it - do it. Thanks! Posted by Rita Heath on 9/3/08; 12:05:50 AM from the Alumni sightings, Homecoming 2008, Membership dept. Discuss #

2008 Newsletter and Registration forms now available!

The OU Band Alumni Association is mailing the four-page 2008 Newsletter to members and others on the mailing list this week, along with a registration form for Homecoming 2008. Yet you, the loyal reader of this site, do not need to wait for the US Mail to arrive: you can read the newsletter and print a registration form right now! 2008 OUBAA Newsletter 2008 Homecoming Registration Form Note that registrations for Homecoming 2008 must be postmarked by September 20, 2008! We've adjusted the home page countdown as a gentle reminder to get yours in now and not to put it off. Pregame waits for no one! (Halftime, however, can be extended for at least 72 minutes by rain, as we found out Saturday night. I'll get a game report up in the next day or two with some photos of Lake Owen Field if I can find them.) Posted by Webmaster on 9/1/08; 10:08:19 PM from the Homecoming 2008 dept. Discuss #