Norman, Oklahoma - My One-Time Home
Walker and Adams Center, 2013.
I didn’t graduate from the University of Oklahoma. I never finished my degree at all. But I did spent my freshman year there and it was a pivotal period in my life.
I wasn’t raised an OU fan and it was never a part of my plan. I was accepted to a couple of film schools but couldn’t afford them. So I asked my best friend Virgil where he was going and decided to tag along. Little did I know how big of an impact it would have on me.
Shooting a video about the dos and don’ts of studying. Don’t try studying while your roommate’s playing Guitar Hero. Do find a quiet place where you can focus.
My wardrobe is at least 60% crimson, I fly an OU flag in my yard, and I make sure to travel to at least a few Sooner sports events each year. But I also have a love for my campus and my former community, even though I only lived there for a year.
Life on Lindsey Street
I moved into Walker Center a week before my 18th birthday. Now at 29 I hear they’re getting ready to tear it down. I’m all for progress but I wish things were still built to last and history was celebrated instead of seen as an expensive inconvenience.
Shooting pool with Erik and Devin.
I’ll sure miss that serotonin boost I get every time I see Walker creeping up on the skyline as I arrive at campus.
I was fortunate enough to be paired with a roommate I liked, even if we were never really friends. And he moved out over Christmas break leaving me with extra space and furniture. My friend and fellow Sandite Devin was directly across the hall and Virgil and our friend Erik were just a few floors up. Those connections really helped me transition without too much homesickness.
I struggled at times with the distance from everything I’d ever known, especially while my high school sweetheart was still back in the springs. For the first few months it was pedal to the metal every Friday as soon as my last class dismissed, but with time I came to think of Norman as home.
Bizzell Memorial Library.
Parking was expensive and impossible so we rode our bikes everywhere. There were countless nights throwing down chicken wings and milkshakes from Crossroads while shooting pool at the student union. Once a week Virgil and I would get Quizno’s at in the Clarke-Anderson room.
There were 8000-calorie trips to the Caf. One swipe of your meal card got you unlimited food - there was a Chinese joint, a Greek restaurant, the regular cafeteria food, a cereal bar, a grill, a dessert bar, Chick-Fil-A, and more.
We caught many movies in the union theater and I still remember I nearly broke the headrest off the seat in front of me when they killed Carlisle in Breaking Dawn: Part 2. I also saw Moonrise Kingdom there and it remains one of my favorite movies to this day.
If you ever get the chance to visit OU, you have to stop at the Great Reading Room in Bizzell Library. Fair warning though - even whispers aren’t allowed.
When we returned from Christmas break we had a splendid surprise in a new Raisin Cane’s in the bottom of Adams Center (which was demolished this past summer). Having already overindulged everywhere else on campus, this was a nice new option that we quickly overindulged in - often making two visits a day.
Sometimes it was just a quick bite before bed, but it was also where we talked politics and religion, where we tried to grow up and better understand ourselves and what we wanted in life. And of course there was that cute cashier I just called “Raisin Cane’s Girl” that I was too nervous to talk to except when I ordered my “Box combo, no slaw, extra sauce, large sweet tea,” ad nauseum.
I still blame not graduating on the fact that I dared to walk under the cursed OU clocktower. Campus legend says nobody who walks under it graduates on time.
I was a different person back then but I do still have a lot in common with that guy. I wish I could warn him how quickly it would all go by and tell him to be a little more present and a little more appreciative.
Norman Disc Golf
One of the things that kicked my academic butt the most was the disc golf habit we developed there. Virgil and Erik and I would play two or three rounds a day at the many local courses, mostly Colonial Estates.
Colonial was an 18-hole course that I loved for two reasons. One - it was beginner level and I could usually keep my score fairly low there with some ace-run opportunities. Two, it played along a creek that was a treasure trove for plastic.
Most folks wouldn’t get in the water to retrieve a disc, and I don’t blame them. It was gross water - stinky and filled with trash. We saw snapping turtles, but never got bit. Never saw any snakes, but I’m sure they were there. I did get a leech one time, right between my toes. But we also found hundreds of discs there over the course of that year.
Some had phone numbers on them and we reunited them with their owners. Sometimes they’d give us a $5 finder-fee, sometimes not. Sometimes there was no name or number and the discs would end up in our bags or we’d sell them online for gas money to get back home. Half of the discs in my bag to this day were found in those waters.
My buddy Erik lining up to putt.
We also spent some time golfing at N.E. Lions Park and Griffin Park, as well as Kenneth King Park in Noble and some of the Moore/OKC parks.
Griffin and Lions are both great 18-hole courses. I enjoyed them even though they kicked my butt. Lions is one of the oldest courses in the country, established in 1976. I don’t think I’ve played either since college so they may be very different from how I remember them.
Sooner Football
My first OU game was a 52-7 beatdown of Kansas on October 20, 2012. I didn’t take advantage of the OU student season tickets unfortunately. I didn’t care about sports when I first arrived at campus and the $200-something was a lot to me at the time. But fortunately there was a robust resale market on campus and I was able to snag a $20 ticket for the undesirable Jayhawks game.
So far I’ve only caught a handful of games at the Palace on the Prairie. In 2013 I went with my mom and my friends Virgil and Jacob to the September 14th 51-20 win against the University of Tulsa.
My next OU football game wasn’t till 2018 when we played Alabama in the Orange Bowl, and I didn’t return to Gaylord till 2022 with my now wife, Charity.
2022 was also the first time, believe it or not, that I ever hung out on campus corner. I definitely didn’t live my freshman year to the fullest. I spent far too much of it on the disc golf course or playing video games in my dorm instead of out exploring the culture around me. But I’m making up for it now.
I took Charity to her first OU game on September 10th to watch a nerve-racking 33-3 win over Kent State that we only led 7-3 at halftime. We got there hours early so I could show her all around the campus for the first time and reminisce about the school that helped make me who I am today.
The season didn’t go the way any Sooner hoped or expected, but we sure enjoyed the highs. That game was a blast, as was our return trip for my first-ever Bedlam in the home finale.
After losing five of our last seven games, my hopes weren’t high. But Sooner magic and that Sooner defense won out. Somehow we took a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and held on for the 28-13 win against a ranked Cowboy unit.
I remember walking past a live radio crew doing pregame outside the stadium. One of the talking heads said something along the lines of “it’s pretty clear that OSU definitely has the better quarterback in this game,” to which I immediately laughed out loud.
All due respect to Spencer Sanders. He really is a solid quarterback. But I like my boy Dillon Gabriel and he wasn’t the one who threw four interceptions in that game. I do look forward to watching Sanders at Ole Miss this next season though - I think that’ll be a great fit for him.
I’m cautiously optimistic about the coming season. I don’t think it would be outrageous to see us win ten games but we’ll see! Regardless of how it goes, Charity and I will be there loud and proud for the Iowa State game on October 14th. Fingers crossed we can score Bedlam tickets too, though I’m not counting on it since it may be the last Bedlam for many years.
Exploring Downtown Norman
My wife and in-laws and I recently took a day trip to Kendall’s Restaurant in Noble, a cute little homestyle diner with an Oklahomacana theme that blends music and sports with lots of autographed memorabilia including guitars, outfits, lyric sheets, set lists, and more.
The chicken-fried steak, fried okra, and fried green tomatoes were delicious, though I’m sure my body wasn’t too happy about all the batter.
After our lunch we decided to explore downtown Norman and check out some of the shops.
Our first stop was a much-needed refuel at Gray Owl Coffee. According to the signage inside, George Clooney supposedly loves that place. Love is a strong word, but I certainly liked it. Low-fi hipster vibe with ceiling-mounted bicycles, plenty of study space, and selection of literature and board games in the back.
We took our drinks to go and visited the S&J Market Place next door - your typical flea market with an eclectic mix of collectibles, antiques, tiny boutique booths, and miscellaneous yard sale junk. My favorite type of flea market. When I typed the name of it just now I accidentally wrote “Marketing Place.” Good God, somebody please save me from my day job.
We also made stops at Bruce’s Vintage Guitars & Antiques as well as Robinson’s Repurposed while walking Main Street. Eventually we came to Sea Shanty Scuba & Swim where we encountered a lovely window cat whose name I can’t remember but boy was it a sweetheart.
We took a dessert break at Apple Tree Chocolate, though I went with gelato instead of truffles. It was delicious, but I regret not waiting for Rusty’s Custard Factory in honor of my cat.
There’s no shortage of appealing restaurants, shops, and bars in downtown Norman that I would like to visit some day, but on this trip I was most excited to simply discover all the murals scattered throughout parking lots and back alleys across downtown.
We ended our trip with a quick cruise through campus so I could show my in-laws around then stopped at Old Magnolia Garage in Davenport for some fried pies.
I never tire of revisiting my old haunts in Norman, nor of discovering new places I didn’t even know existed during my overwhelmed and unadventurous youth. I hope some day I can send my kids to Norman and raise them with some OU traditions along the way. Till then I’ll just keep working to unravel my wife’s OSU ties.
