Oklahoma Friday

And wouldn't you know, it all happened again?  And again, and again! And again!  And again! - Eric Bogle, Green Fields of France

  Irish Fans,

  Allow me to resume the story from yesterday.  The kicker sent the ball flying through the air, and the battle was on.  The Irish crashed into the Sooners, and vice versa, over and over again.  It was a game of brutal hits, stifling defense, and punting.  Lots of punting.  As the seconds ticked off the clock around the seven minute mark, the score was still 0-0 when Notre Dame got the ball inside its own 20.  

with the score nothing-nothing, this man thought
the Bears were winning

Then the offense began to put together a drive.  (Sorry about no YouTube).

The Irish, on their first play, ran it up the middle.  And kept at it.  Up the middle, up the middle, up the middle, up the middle, up the middle. Up the middle across the 50.  Up the middle up the middle, up the middle, up the middle, and a run to the right inside the 30.  A jump pass took the Irish inside the 20, followed by another run up the middle to the 12.  The Irish almost lost the ball with a fumble, but then ran left to get 1st and goal at the 8.  

Three more runs got the Irish to the 3 yd line on 4th and goal.  Coach Brennan refused to kick a field goal, and sent in a pitch to the right.  The halfback ran as fast as he could, turned the corner, and charged into the end zone for a touchdown.  Irish 7, Sooners 0. 

The Sooners mounted one last drive, but fell short inside the Irish 20.  Final score, Notre Dame 7, Oklahoma 0.  The 47 game win streak was no more. A win streak that has stood unchallenged these past 55 years. 

Now, you may remember the story of that wild man watching the game back home.  Well, he and his friends celebrated until early Sunday morning.  And although most of his friends probably forgot about his deal, he didn't. He was up a couple hours later, horribly hungover, and attended mass, as he did for the remaining 40+ years of his life, never missing mass again. The Victory March was played at his funeral and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Neither he, nor his whole family, ever forgot that game.  And neither, apparently, has the state of Oklahoma.  The 1957 game features heavily in a long story about reasons Oklahoma fans hate the dirty papists.  For many of them, that 47 game win streak was the first bit of respect Oklahoma had received since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, when 'Okie' became a dirty word all along Route 66 to California while Okies were belittled by filmmakers in Hollywood, and subjected to discriminatory laws in the Golden State, where they had fled to escape the drought of the century. And in one horrible, horrible afternoon, Notre Dame put an end to Oklahoma's pride and joy. 

Of the people who sat in that stadium back in November of 1957, most of them are now dead.  But think of the children.  Specifically, anyone under age nine.  That day was the first time those children saw Oklahoma lose at football.  Until then, their living memory was one OU victory after another.  A bit of their childhood innocence and joy died that day, smothered by Terry Brennan and the 1957 Fighting Irish.  Since then, those children have grown up with the rest of the Baby Boomer generation.  And every so often, they've had a chance to see the Sooners avenge the horrible, horrible day in 1957. 

But it hasn't gone well.  Oklahoma tried to get revenge four years later, and lost 19-6.

They tried again the next year, this time in Norman, losing 13-7.

The Irish came back to Norman in 1966, when some of those children of '57 had entered Oklahoma as students.  Hoping for revenge, they saw the Irish annihilate the Sooners 38-0.

The Sooners retunred to South Bend in 1968 and lost again.

Oklahoma would avoid playing the Irish in their 1973 undefeated season, but because of Sooner cheating, they had to stay home during bowl season.  They spent New Year's Eve watching undefeated Notre Dame defeat undefeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and claim a national championship.

Pictured: National Champions.  Not Pictured: Oklahoma

During the broadcast, Sugar Bowl attendees drove a mockup of the Sooner Schooner around the field with INELIGIBLE written across it.  Since then, Oklahoma came to South Bend to play the Irish once more in 1999, and lost once again.

Oops.

Last season, 55 years had passed since 1957 when Notre Dame journeyed to Norman as underdogs.  It was a chance for many of those kids, now older, to get revenge, and see the team that shattered their childhood get its long deserved comeuppance.  Alas, they put their faith in guys like WR Kenny Stills:

 and then this happened:

Ow.

and this:

and the Irish won, 30-13.  The children of '57, much older now, gazed out at another chance at revenge, another chance for atonement, squandered in the Oklahoma night.  For these people, like the man in the lower left hand corner of this picture, it's a miserable experience

"And wouldn't you know, it all happened again?  And again, and again, and again, and again!"

  And now, it's 2013.  The children of '57 have grown taller, then greyer, then older. Some of them may have Irish Alzheimers: forgetting everything but their grudges, especially one against that team in blue and gold from South Bend.  And this, barring unforseeable events, will be the last game between the two programs in many of their lifetimes.  This is the children of '57's final chance to avenge that horrible day from long ago.  For some, this game means everything.  If Notre Dame loses, they can die happy, having finally seen the Irish get their comeuppance for what they did to Oklahoma in 1957, when they were children.  If Notre Dame wins, some may die bitter, angry at never seeing the Sooners get their revenge on the hated Irish. 

Let them die bitter.

Backer Song of the Day: