OU supporters brave cold to watch Saturday's game
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Bart Chance wasn't going to let a winter storm stop him. Or that swarm of Nebraska fans surrounding him in the parking lot. Or that cast on his lower left leg.
There he was in his crimson jacket just outside Arrowhead Stadium, three hours before kickoff, waiting for his Oklahoma Sooners to battle Nebraska for the Big 12 championship.
"I'm from Ponca City, but I coach high school basketball in Holcomb, way down in southeast Missouri," the 32-year-old Chance said. "We had a game last night, and I blew my Achilles tendon out at a pep rally last Monday. Had surgery on Wednesday. But I jumped in the car first thing this morning and came this way.
"I graduated from Oklahoma State, but I've been a Sooner football fan forever."
Chance wasn't the only OU rooter among the tailgaters. It seemed that Husker fans had them outnumbered four-to-one, but that wasn't a deterrent.
"They're great fans. They've been fine," said Bob Hardy, a 59-year-old Sooner supporter who drove up from Weatherford on Saturday. "I think we have the utmost respect for each other."
There was a lot of mingling of the reds, in fact. Perhaps they were exchanging travel stories.
"There was a lot of ice on trees," Chance said, "but the roads were fine."
"From Guthrie to the state line we hit a lot of fog," said 49-year-old OU fan Jim Guadalupe who drove up from Oklahoma City on Saturday. "The roads were clean. No patches, no nothing."
Weather conditions inside the stadium were of more serious concern.
"I've got on thermal underwear, fleece sweatpants, and then another pair of sweatpants outside of those," Hardy said between bites of steaming chili. " I've got on thermal socks and toe-warmers inside my boots, two T-shirts, a leather jacket. And I'm going to wear a coat and a pullover hoodie for the game."
"Those toes and fingers, you keep them warm, you'll be all right," said Mike Heim, a 46-year-old OU fan from Lawton. "I know. I've been to a Buffalo Bills games. Layers of clothing is the key."
That went especially for Chance, his blanketed left leg propped up on a Coleman cooler out in the parking lot.
"The cast is pretty warm, except for the very end," he said. "I'm covering my toes with a trash bag, a towel, anything I can find."
Guerin Emig 581-8355
guerin.emig@tulsaworld.com
