Steelers & Sooners

This week Kelly is highlighting favorite sports team, traditions, and tailgating on her Show Us Your Life Series.













I am highlighting my two favorite football teams - the Pittsburgh Steelers and the University of Oklahoma Sooners.













I have only had the great privilege to go to a few Steelers games in my life, most of which were when I was in grade & high school, so I don't have a bunch of photos from those experiences. That was WAY before the digital camera era anyway. My most recent game that I attended was in late November 2007, it was cold and rainy, otherwise known as the mud bowl game. But fortunately we had seats under cover so we stayed mostly dry.
















You may remember that Bobby & I tried to go to a game in 2007 for my 30th birthday, but that didn't turn out too well... we didn't have tickets ahead of time, so we just went to the stadium hoping someone was selling some at a good price, but we were not so lucky. Instead, we ended up watching the game from a really nice condo in Pittsburgh, just across the river from the stadium.



















Before I move on, here are a couple of quick facts about my beloved Steelers:

• they have won 6 super bowls - that is more than any team in the NFL
• they have won 7 AFC championships
• it's the fifth oldest franchise in the NFL
  
• they are still owned by the same family that founded them in 1933
• they are the only team that has the logo on only one side of their helmet

As far as gameday traditions at home, we are always decked out in black & gold, usually game jerseys, we drink out of our Steelers cups which set on our Steelers coasters. For special occassions (like the super bowl, which they won TWO of this decade!) we pull out the special steelers paper plates, napkins, and plastic ware. We're so fancy. And of course we have our Terrible Towels handy for cheering for those touchdown catches by Hines Ward, or those sacks by James Harrison.

'dem Stillers are da best!

Oh, and speaking of the Super Bowl and Steelers, I can't leave out a picture of the cookies I made for the grand event this past year.





































Now on the other hand, my Sooner traditions are young. Just 7 years old, in fact. I didn't really have a college football team that I followed growing up, so when I met Bobby, (who is from Oklahoma and therefore a lifetime Sooner fan) I quickly joined Sooner Nation. We attended our first game together in November 2002, just shortly after we got engaged. It was awesome. I couldn't believe how many people were there! I finally realized why college football gets so much hype. I loved the marching band, the Sooner Schooner, the echoing "boomer" and "sooner" from opposite sides of the crowd, and the "oooooooooo......... U!" at kickoff. We went to one other game when OU played Mizzou in Missouri (we were living in St Louis at the time) and that was a lot of fun too, but our seats were in the Mizzou section and they weren't too hospitable to people dressed in crimson.

OU-Mizzou, October 2006
















Now that we are living in Norman, the home of the university, we are living in the hype. There is OU stuff EVERYWHERE, and the only thing anyone talks about is the football team. It's great! Unfortunately the team is without a few of their starting players this year due to injury (hello?!?! Heisman winner Sam Bradford! I'm such a name dropper, I know.) so they have already lost two games. I'm a little disappointed because I moved here to watch a winning team, but apparently they don't care what I think.... haha.

We will (hopefully) be attending our first game together as citizens of Norman this week. Tailgating and game pictures to come. Boomer Sooner!!!