UD has true Longhorn fan
Education professor attends 51st consecutive Red River Shootout
Nancy George
Issue date: 10/13/04 Section: News
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Tradition.
Besides the Core and family ties, no other idea unifies the UD community to the extent tradition does. UD folk love traditions- Charity Week, Groundhog, and the list goes on.
But one UD member and ardent football fan has a tradition all his own, a tradition tied to Texas and Oklahoma history.
Since 1900, the University of Texas (UT) Longhorns and Oklahoma University (OU) Sooners (formerly Rough Riders) played football against each other.
The games played at the Cotton Bowl have been sold out since 1946, according to www.dailytexanonline.com.
Dr. Jerry Irons, visiting education professor, attended his 51st consecutive UT-OU game this past weekend.
"It is one of the top football events in the nation. It is right here in Dallas. If a person likes football and keeps up with it, where else can you go to see two of the top football teams.
"It is much bigger than the game itself. The game is unique. There is an even number of Texas and Oklahoma University patrons involved.
"Two of the best marching bands in the United States are there. It is an event. This is Oklahoma against Texas," he said.
As a child, Irons used to attend the Red River Shootout, as the UT-OU football game is called. But the tradition of attending the game consecutively developed much later and unexpectedly.
"I started going to the game as a kid. My father did his master's degree at University of Texas. When I was a sophomore in college, my wife and I went to the game, along with her college roommate and her boy friend from University of Texas at Austin. [The roommate's boyfriend] had tickets.
"My college roommate, Jack Smith, also went to the game but not with us. Beginning next year, Jack Smith and I started going to the game," he said.
As they graduated and lived their separate lives, Irons and Smith continued to attend the game together. The two (not living in Dallas at the time) would meet in Dallas with their wives. While Irons and Smith went to the game, their wives would go shopping.
Besides the Core and family ties, no other idea unifies the UD community to the extent tradition does. UD folk love traditions- Charity Week, Groundhog, and the list goes on.
But one UD member and ardent football fan has a tradition all his own, a tradition tied to Texas and Oklahoma history.
Since 1900, the University of Texas (UT) Longhorns and Oklahoma University (OU) Sooners (formerly Rough Riders) played football against each other.
The games played at the Cotton Bowl have been sold out since 1946, according to www.dailytexanonline.com.
Dr. Jerry Irons, visiting education professor, attended his 51st consecutive UT-OU game this past weekend.
"It is one of the top football events in the nation. It is right here in Dallas. If a person likes football and keeps up with it, where else can you go to see two of the top football teams.
"It is much bigger than the game itself. The game is unique. There is an even number of Texas and Oklahoma University patrons involved.
"Two of the best marching bands in the United States are there. It is an event. This is Oklahoma against Texas," he said.
As a child, Irons used to attend the Red River Shootout, as the UT-OU football game is called. But the tradition of attending the game consecutively developed much later and unexpectedly.
"I started going to the game as a kid. My father did his master's degree at University of Texas. When I was a sophomore in college, my wife and I went to the game, along with her college roommate and her boy friend from University of Texas at Austin. [The roommate's boyfriend] had tickets.
"My college roommate, Jack Smith, also went to the game but not with us. Beginning next year, Jack Smith and I started going to the game," he said.
As they graduated and lived their separate lives, Irons and Smith continued to attend the game together. The two (not living in Dallas at the time) would meet in Dallas with their wives. While Irons and Smith went to the game, their wives would go shopping.