Sooners can't adjust to Boulder's altitude
Buffaloes' win spoils some OU fans' vacations
Sooners can't adjust to Boulder's altitude
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57
By Berry Tramel
Published: September 30, 2007
BOULDER, Colo. — Bob Stoops said altitude shouldn't matter to football teams visiting the Rockies, be it Folsom Field or Mile High Stadium.
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Colorado vacation
Colorado ruined more than OU's national title hopes. The Buffs also ruined many a Sooner vacation.
"We planned this three years ago, that's what's bad,” OU fan Hans Cyr of Tulsa said of his weekend in the Rockies.
Said OU fan John Lauer of Dallas, "I thought we were coming up here for a fun weekend and watch a big win. I kept waiting to see us turn it on, and I just never saw it.”
None of the estimated 6,000 OU fans saw it. The lethargic Sooners, even when taking command on the scoreboard, never took command on the field.
"I'm not too happy,” said OU fan Randy Swank of Mountain Top, Pa. The Sooners led 24-7 after three quarters, and "I thought, here we go, like all the other games.”
Like most fans, Cyr never saw this coming. "You hear the fans last night, ‘You're gonna spank us by 60 points.'”
Didn't happen, and the only solace for Sooner fans was watching Kansas State take apart Texas 41-21, setting up a Cotton Bowl showdown next Saturday to eliminate a team not from national championship, but Big 12, contention.
Fan friendly
Folsom Field hasn't always been a hospitable place for the Sooners, even in victory. Colorado fans can get quite rowdy, even after Folsom went dry, stopping beer sales in 1996.
OU fans in the past have reported being barraged by snowballs, wet toilet-paper rolls and condensed marshmallows, not to mention sordid language.
"The (CU) fans are a little crazy, so I figured the Sooners needed our support,” said OU fan Anita Holloway of Dallas, who bought a plane ticket at 4 p.m. Friday to fly to the game.
But Saturday, Oklahomans reported a more cordial reception.
"The people we saw were pretty courteous,” said Joe Paul Klabzuba of Edmond, who stayed Friday night in downtown Boulder and attended a CU pep rally. "A lot of (Folsom) ushers welcomed OU fans.”
Sights & sounds
• They don't make Ralphies like they used to. Colorado's buffalo mascot charging onto the field is one of college football's great traditions. But this Ralphie galloped at a leisurely pace. Her blue-jeaned handlers loped alongside. I've seen Ralphies in the past that made the lads look like George Jetson caught on that crazy treadmill.
• OU at Colorado is maybe the Big 12's best uniform matchup. The Sooner whites are their best look, anyway, and when contrasted with Colorado's black and glittering gold, on a gorgeous green field, well, college football wardrobes don't get much better.
• Folsom Field is loud. The Colorado crowd was disappointing; announced at 50,031, some 3,000 shy of capacity. Still, old Folsom can roar with all but the best of stadiums and did Saturday. OU quarterback Sam Bradford had trouble calling signals at key points throughout the game.

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A disappointed Okie in FSU land.
After reading the CU fans responses to the game, I noticed one that really made sense.
One Buff fan, in the THIRD QUARTER, noticed a cloud shaped like a WHITE BUFFALO, an Indian sign of good fortune.
At that time the game was 24-7 and seemingly out of hand for CU. The White Buffalo changed everything in favor of the black clad Buffaloes.
OU mysteriously blew up -- bad plays, dropped passes, missed assignments, poor coaching decisions, no "icing timeout" calls, and before you knew it, Sooner fans of all ages were unashamedly crying on national TV.
It wasn't any Swooners fault. IT WAS THE GREAT WHITE BUFFALO!!
Kevin, Denver
Still, I got me all kinds of theories and ideas that ought maybe ya'll could might should adopt, Mr. Stoops. I think yer the greatest coach of all time, after Barry Switzer, of course, and Craig Blankenship.
Hooo-eey!!! YEEHAW! Boomer Sooner!!!
The Daily Oklahoman, Berry Tramel, & Jenni Carlson all make me sick & ashamed & flat-out appalled to be from Oklahoma.
I might should quit reading this crap, but it's too damn funny. Funny like watching OU lose to Colorado.
Best, kids.
Altitude is always a factor in Boulder; no surprise there and no excuse either.
The Sooners are supposed to be one of the elite teams in the country. We've been hearing /reading for a month now what a "complete" team they are. We've been told how awesome Sam Bradford is at quarterback. And of course we've heard for several years what an excellent coach Bob Stoops is.
And the altitude is the best you can do!?!
Almost anyone knows that the air is indeed "thin" at that high of an altitude. But with your "theory" (excuse?), Colorado should be undefeated at home year after year. Especially when you consider that this was no average team they beat yesterday up there in that rarefied air. That was the Mighty Oklahoma Sooners who apparently checked their "Sooner Magic" at the door of Folsom Field on Saturday.
The "thin" air story might hold up as a "game-changer" when comparing the Buffaloes to an equally matched team. But the Sooners?!
And you write this as if it's some new concept and as if the Sooners had never been to Boulder before or read any "reports" on the "thin" air there.
Wow! Just wow! I guess the only logical explanation I can think of for why such a poor article would be printed in your paper would be to deflect criticism from that horrid excuse for a column that your friend Jenni Carlson ran past your editor last week.
Better luck next time!
The attitude that most Sooners have was evident. Fans thought it was a no brainer -- a vacation with a mere formality of a game to punctuate the beautiful mountain holiday.
The team's attitude after feasting on cupcakes with similar records was that CU just had to accept that OU was in town and they should just rollover.
The attitude of the OU coaches that OU didn't have to do anything creative to win or make any adjustments.
The attitude by the OKC media that OU was invincible with little opposition in the way of another trip to a BCS MNC game.
Yep, that loss sure can be attributed to "Attitude Sickness" alright.
Sooner fans swallowed the hook, line and sinker. The team, overconfidently spoonfed by this very media outlet and it's subsidiaries believed it's own press.
Don't stop believing your own press now. That same press has turned on you like a politician on a bum.
I think both major universities in this state have little reason to believe anything from this paper or it's TV station.