Rochester fans' orientation

Now that we've properly welcomed y'all, here's a little primer on all things OSU I borrowed from poster "KansasPosse" at GoPokes.com. It may help you navigate our world down the road. If you take home nothing else, just remember to NOT call us "Okie State" or "Okie Lite!"

1. What do we call Oklahoma State? Acceptable names include: Oklahoma State, OSU, O-State, Cowboys, and Pokes.

2. What name should we not call Oklahoma State? The most used, disapproved name for Oklahoma State is “okie state.” With the dominance of ESPN, it seems this name has become now more widely known, and some mistakenly believe it is acceptable for use. However, many OSU fans find the term derogatory. For some it stems from the historical connotations of “okie.” Others find it a pejorative for those trying to “talk down” to Oklahoma State fans. Posts using this term likely will not last long on the OSU board. Use "okie light" in your posts, well, that will very likely land you in the penalty box even quicker.

3. What are the OSU colors? Orange, black, and white. http://www.okstate.edu/osu_orgs/ice/logos.pdf

4. What are Oklahoma State logos? http://trademarks.okstate.edu/

5. What is the Oklahoma State Alma Mater? The OSU Alma Mater is sung at many Oklahoma State sporting events. It is a vibrant part of the OSU tradition. The final strain of the hymn includes spelling out O-S-U with your arms. http://www.okstate.com/trads/osu-alma-mater.html One of the newest traditions is singing the OSU Alma Mater after the Pokes bring home a victory on the football field. http://www.okstate.com/trads/postgame-singing.html For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...feature=related; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...feature=related

6. What is The Walk? The Walk is a new and growing tradition prior to football games. The team walks amongst thousands of fans from the Student Union to Boone Pickens Stadium approximately two hours prior to game time. http://www.okstate.com/trads/the-walk.html

7. What is the Waving Song? The Waving Song is the traditional start of the three song trilogy that OSU recognizes as a package for its spirit songs. The Waving Song is one element that sets OSU apart as legions of fans wave a single arm in time with the tried and true Waving Song beat after a Cowboy touchdown. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...feature=related (this link doesn't do it justice - sorry) The origination of the song is steeped in OSU history. http://www.okstate.com/trads/waving-song.html What the Waving Song does NOT represent is waving wheat, which some mistakenly believe. MP3 versions of all OSU fight songs and its alma mater along, with other songs by The Spirit of Oklahoma State – The OSU Cowboy Marching Band can be found here: http://bands.okstate.edu/CMB/sounds.html

8. What is the OSU fight song? Ride’Em Cowboys is the official fight song. It is the second song of the trilogy of songs for the Oklahoma State package of spirit tunes. http://www.okstate.com/trads/fight-song.html

9. What is OSU Chant? This is the third song in the trilogy of fight songs. This video shows how Ride’Em Cowboys and OSU Chant work together, along with the lyrics.

10. Did OSU used to be called OAMC? Yes, Oklahoma State was formerly known as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College when it was founded in 1890. In 1957, Oklahoma A&M became Oklahoma State University. http://osu.okstate.edu/index.p...0&Itemid=96

11. Was OSU previously known as the Aggies? Yes. OAMC teams were generally referred to as the Aggies until the school became OSU in 1957.

12. Who is Pistol Pete? This is the official Oklahoma State mascot, loved and cherished by all. http://www.okstate.com/trads/p...ete-mascot.html He is based upon a real, honest to goodness cowboy, Frank Eaton http://www.okstate.com/trads/pistol-pete.html Others have tried to duplicate him, yes we’re talking about you Wyoming and New Mexico State, but there’s only one, true Pistol Pete.

13. What is Bullet? Bullet is the black horse with its Spirit Rider that proudly takes the field after an OSU score. http://www.okstate.com/trads/bullet.html For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...feature=related One of the most impressive traditions is Bullet's entrance on the field during pregame festivities: ture=related

14. What is the Sea of Orange? It is the term that refers to OSU fan’s love of orange attire for sporting events. It has become almost an obsession for O-State fans to wear orange, and lots of it, for OSU sporting events. It has become such a tradition that the moniker "Sea of Orange" has developed to describe it. Bowl committees have been amazed at the sight of so many people decked out in the greatest color on the planet. OSU fans are not hard to spot on game day due to their affection for all things orange. When seen, it truly is a sight to behold. This will give you a glimpse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...feature=related

15. Remember the 10? This signifies one of the saddest days in OSU history when 10 members of the OSU basketball family were killed in a plane crash on January 27, 2001, in Colorado on the way home from a basketball game. These 10 men will always be held near and dear to the heart of Oklahoma State University. http://www.remembertheten.com/

16. What is Orange Power? This is the traditional in-game chant at OSU sporting events. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...feature=related

17. What is a Poke? OSU teams are also called the Pokes, which is short for cowpoke. A cowpoke is a slang term for a cowboy so it fits with OSU heritage.

18. How many National Championships as OSU won? Oklahoma State is proud to boast 50 national championships in its athletic department. http://www.okstate.com/trads/n...mpionships.html

19. Where do the Cowboys play football? The home of the OSU Cowboys is Boone Pickens Stadium. It has undergone massive renovations over several years to become one of the finest facilities in the nation. http://www.okstate.com/facilit...ns-stadium.html The OSU family will be forever indebted to the generosity of alum T. Boone Pickens for his famous generosity to Oklahoma State. One interesting tidbit is that the playing field of BPS runs east and west instead of the more traditional layout of north and south.

20. What is Gallagher-Iba Arena? This is the home of OSU Cowboy and Cowgirl basketball along with Cowboy wrestling. GIA was opened in 1938, and underwent extensive renovations in 2001. Within its hallowed walls is Eddie Sutton Court. One of the interesting things about GIA is that it sits just off the east endzone of BPS and has skyboxes that are used both for basketball and football games. Combined with BPS, Oklahoma State has some of the finest football and basketball facilities in the country, bar none. http://www.okstate.com/facilit...lagher-iba.html

21. What is Karsten Creek? This is the world renowned golf facility of Oklahoma State. Without question, Karsten Creek represents one of the finest collegiate golf courses in the country. It will play host to the 2011 NCAA Championships, which only makes sense because OSU has NEVER missed qualifying for the NCAA Golf Championships in the entire history of the event. A program as tradition rich as the OSU golf program deserves such a majestic place to call home. http://www.okstate.com/facilit...sten-creek.html

22. Where is OSU located? Oklahoma State is located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which is in north central Oklahoma. It lies approximately 60 miles from both Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The population of Stillwater is estimated to be approximately 40,000 according to the 2000 census, but it is one of the fastest growing communities in Oklahoma. Obviously, the town revolves around Oklahoma State. It has a small town charm, but also has blossomed into a small city that can provide a vast array of eating, lodging, and shopping opportunities. http://www.visitstillwater.org/; http://stillwater.org/.

23. What is Eskimo Joes? Eskimo Joes is an OSU tradition. No trip to Stillwater will be complete without a trip to this establishment one block east of the OSU main campus. Its world famous tshirts have been seen all over the world. Don’t forget to order the cheese fries while visiting! http://shop.eskimojoes.com/

24. What is that thing you do to spell OSU? One of the longtime traditions of OSU is to spell out its initials with our arms: make an "O" - "S" - "U" with our arms while saying "OOOOOO, SSSSSS, UUUUUU" followed by a loud "COWBOYS"! This is Pistol Pete's favorite! Just make sure the left arm is the one raised when making the "S"! The opening of this video gives a good example of Pistol Pete leading the crowd in the O-S-U cheer; it also is a good example of our pregame festivities. Don't ask about the dreadful flag carried by the Spirit Rider - that's a whole other story.

25. What are Paddle People? This is a student group that has become a new tradition at OSU. This group is on the front row of the student section just down from the opposition's bench. They use bright orange paddles to beat the safety padding on the walls of BPS. As you will discover, BPS has some of the coziest sidelines in the land, so there is not much room from the benches to the fans. The Paddle People add an additional distraction for our visitors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?g...p;v=Je5o2OIwEUY

26. What is a goon? This is a name OSU fans call supporters of the University of Oklahoma. Other names include: dirt burglers, squatters, evil empire, uo, etc.

27. What is bedlam? This is the term used to describe the competitions between OSU and the goons. There is an annual Bedlam Series to recognize the school with the most wins head-to-head at the end of the sports year.
Last edited 2/17/2012 3:32 PM by KansasPosse
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Oh I thought you were asking a very personal question.

Hah! I neither ask nor tell.......

Will all this be on the test...........

After I posted it I realized it was too lengthy, but I'm too lazy to edit it right now .

Tried to edit but I can't! Oh well, just remember the "okie" stuff.........

Only people with their panties tightly lodged in their butt crack care when people refer to OSU as Okie State.

I feel the same way, and my Dad's family was about as Okie as you can get (lost the family farm in the Dust Bowl, etc.; at least they didn't move to California ). Most people use the term "Okie" now just as a shorter way of saying "Oklahoma," the same reason some of us call Arkansas "Arky" and Missouri "Mizzou."

I find "Okie Lite" only mildly offensive and, let's face it, we have our own little nicknames our Big XII brethren.

Hey, OSU Silver is a school color!

One other thing:

Barry MF'ing Sanders

I understand what you're saying (and it's been discussed ad nauseam here), but I'll only stop thinking it's condescending when the press starts referring to OU as "Okie U" or "the Okie Sooners" (not gonna happen, is it?).

You will hear a lot of envious opponents and/or clueless 'journalists' rail against T. Boone Pickens and OSU for his extravagent support of OSU, especially decrying the misguided focus on collegiate athletics.

What you won't hear is that Boone has also donated huge amounts of money to academics (to wit: the Pickens School of Geology at OSU), including a $100 million "kickoff" donation towards OSU's $1 billion dollar endowment drive (currently something over $750 million). Boone's total donations to OSU are approaching $500 million (yes, half a billion), and he has many times stated there will be more to come. He has also donated at least $100 million to medical facilities related to the University of Texas.

Below are some other notable donations Boone has made (sorry to cite wikipedia, but I'm basically lazy):

Humanitarian contributions

Pickens and employees of his BP Capital LLC donated $7 million to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. The Chronicle of Philanthropy lists Pickens as among its largest charitable givers 2005 and 2006. He has donated nearly a half a billion dollars to philanthropic causes during his career.
On January 22, 2007, Pickens donated $5 million to The University of Texas at Dallas to fund educational and research initiatives in the area of brain science. Part of the donation is funding the "T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Chair in Clinical Brain Science", that is held by Dr. Denise C. Park who heads The Center for Vital Longevity at the University of Texas at Dallas
On May 16, 2007, Pickens donated $100 million to two University of Texas health care institutions. The gifts were donated to the UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
On August 23, 2007, Bizjournals.com reported that Pickens is donating $2.5 million to Happy Hill Farm Academy/Home, a residential school for at-risk children and teenagers, to build a training center and guest lodge. Pickens donated $1 million to Happy Hill Farm for the construction of a new academic campus at the residential school in February 2007.[42]
On December 5, 2007 the Dallas Business Journal reported that Pickens had donated $6 million to Jubilee Park located at S. Carroll Avenue and Lindsley/Parry Avenue in Dallas and would man a bulldozer to begin demolition of an abandoned building across the street from a kindergarten Head Start program in Jubilee Park.[43]
On June 20, 2008 Pickens donated $25 million to the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine during a visit with Calgary Flames owner Harley Hotchkiss.[44]
On October 21, 2008, Pickens donated $5 million to the Downtown Dallas YMCA. The Downtown YMCA will now be renamed "T. Boone Pickens YMCA" in his honor. “I want this gift to encourage individuals, corporations and the entire city to make a serious commitment to fitness and health,” Boone Pickens said. “This money isn’t just helping people work out — it will revitalize this area and make the YMCA a place for the citizens of Dallas today, and will inspire our next generation to be healthy.”

Even some of our (OSU's) own supporters will sometimes b!#ch and moan about Boone having too much influence over OSU/OSU athletics, but make no mistake about it, OSU is in a far, far better place as an institution thanks to Boone Pickens.

well done...

My objection to "Okie State" has nothing to do with the dust bowl. It has everything to do with the LAZY broadcasters who would NEVER abbreviate "Oklahoma" or "Ohio State" or "Oregon" or "Michigan State", "Florida State", etc. For some reason they just can't make themselves say OSU or Oklahoma State. I think they are just too LAZY to say FOUR syllables and think we are to insignificant to make the effort. If they did it for all schools, it wouldn't bother me.

BTW, nice report to start the thread!! Well done.

I will say that after being here since late January and reading up on OSU, I get more excited about the Rochester connection all the time. I believe we will become an OSU extension for the next 4 years and beyond. Hope you all know that you are stuck with the Rockets now (like those distant cousins you talk about)....lol.

Hey, we can be close cousins if you keep sending players like Wes.

As long as we don't start that whole kissing cousins thing....ewwwww.

They only do that in Arkansas rocketcowboy

And gray.

If there's a test, I'm sitting close to you. I figure the dentist is the best guy from whom to steal answers.