Sports Sunday: OSU Football

**Note: I started this Sunday, finished Monday morning and published it now. In the future, I'll definitely try to get this out on Sundays!**

I had talked about making my Sunday blogs all about sports - and I think I'm going to do it. We'll see how this goes, and I totally reserve the right to change my mind about it. :)

So. Let's talk a little OSU football. I've been an OSU fan since I started college. Bought season tickets all four years I was in college, skipped out on the 2008 season [hello pregnancy] but still went to games, and we've been season ticket holders since last season. Being an OSU football fan has its ups [going 9-3 last season and heading to the Cotton Bowl] and downs [going 4-7 in 2005 and not winning a single road game]. It's had its man-up moments [gundy's famous speech in 2007] and its weak moments [les miles chuckin' the deuces unexpectedly after the 2004 season]. But overall, I've bled orange from the very, very beginning.

I know that we're not the best football team in the state - that title clearly belongs to OU. And I'm fine with that, because we have other sports [ou fans like to say the other sports don't matter, but that's not what they were saying when their basketball teams were good]. But the thing I love about OSU is that its fans are loyal. It doesn't matter what the season looks like, if we've lost 20+ starters [like we did this year], if we're projected to finish high in the BCS...they stay true year after year. And that's what makes being an OSU fan so fabulous. I know every year for the time being, we'll be sitting by the same season ticket holders because they'll be back. Every year, everyone in Stillwater will be pumped up about football, no matter the preseason projections. Sure, the bandwagon fans exist, but it's not too bad.

This year, we have a new quarterback - 26-year-old Brandon Weeden. I can't tell you how much crap I've gotten from other people about how our school has a quarterback that's considered old by NCAA standards [shoot, he's older than me - and many guys starting in the nfl are around his age or younger]. But he's held his own, even through a thumb injury that many fans are keeping an eye on and holding their breath. In Saturday's game, he threw for 409 yards and six TD's, and he did that in less than three full quarters of play. He was named Big 12 Player of the Week, broke a few records on Saturday and has been splashed on ESPN and on their homepage. I know that it's still very early in the season, but for all the doubters - check it out. OSU is still alive, Weeden's got a killer arm [and confidence], and we're doing OK.

I know that conference play can be a whole 'nother story. We haven't beaten OU or Texas in who knows how many years, we still don't really know if Weeden's thumb will hold up [hoping the bye week helps that], our offense/defense haven't really been tested against a Big 12 powerhouse...but with Big 12 play coming to town next week, the test is coming pretty quick. I just hope that no matter what, we can finish this season and say we did the best that we could given all the changes.

I'm also kinda hoping they play a bowl game in Dallas again. :)