Here's my open letter to Coach Groce, the team, and Bobcat athletics...

I live in Cincinnati, so we usually only make it in to Athens a couple times a year, so yesterday's game was our only game we'll see this season in the Convo. We came with my 9-year-old son's friend and his family. The game was fun, including the halftime show, in-game promotions, the band, and the dance team.

What I'd most like to applaud came afterward. First, Coach Groce went up into the stands to give high-fives to several Ozone members. (Maybe he does that every game; I don't know.) We went down on the court to let the boys run around a while and take some pictures on the court. We've done that before, but I just think it's neat that OU allows people to do that, shooting hoops and stuff. I'm guessing most schools don't allow that.

After a bit, Coach Groce and some players emerged from the locker room. I know Coach Groce a little bit from my former life as a sportswriter, and he graciously chatted with me a minute and posed for a picture with my son and the other three boys we had with us. Then the boys went over and, one by one, met some players. We got autographs and pics with Ivo, Tunji, D.J., Reggie and Tommy. All were quite gracious.

(In an unrelated event, we had lunch today with Jeff King from the football team. My wife teaches with his aunt, and Jeff had previously come to my wife's classroom to read books to my wife's first-grade class. Jeff also signed autographs and posed for pics.)

As an alum, I'm like all of you fellow fans ... I want OU to win every time, and I get frustrated when they don't. Like a lot of folks, I probably neglect to applaud the positives. But after such a wonderful weekend in Athens, I want to be sure to point out how meaningful a little goodwill can be. For little boys, and even for us adults, it's wonderful to meet players, be on the court, etc. Everyone we met this weekend were great ambassadors for the university.

I'm proud to be a Bobcat, and I wish the team and Coach Groce the best of luck the rest of the way. Go Bobcats!

Sincerely,
Neil Schmidt, class of '93

Michael:  You list of recruiting successes would make a nice letter to the editor in The Post and/or Athens News.  Perhaps Prof. Vedder reads those publications.

My high school Latin teacher (a '44 alum) heard I was going to Miami and filled out an application for OU without my knowledge. Imagine my surprise upon receiving an acceptance letter. He subsequently told me Miami sucks.

Here's my favorite such story.  Picture this.

During the autumn of our daughter Andrea's 10th grade year, one afternoon she and i were raking leaves.  Without warning, she declared: "If there's one college I won't even think of attending, it's OU.  So please don't you or Mom try to talk me into it."

Up to that moment, neither Lynne nor I -- we had met in Ellis Hall -- had said Word One about selecting a college.  Later that afternoon I told Lynne what Andrea had said, and our silence as to OU continued.  During the ensuing months Andrea visited other schools.

Then one day, again with no warning, she said, "I think I'd like to visit OU."

I had to bite my tongue to refrain from making a smart alecky comment.  Instead, I asked mildly, "You mean schedule a formal visitation?"

"Yes."

On her OU visitation day, the schedule began in the then new Morton Hall with a large group of prospective students and their parents. That group then broke down into smaller groups by college.  Then the groups grew smaller still in meetings with individual professors.  Then came the campus tour.  At the end of the day Andrea, Lynne and I got in our car to begin the 4-hour drive back to Lyndhurst.  We had barely left Athens when Andrea, sitting in the back, leaned forward and said, "I could see myself there."

Andrea is OU '94 and a passionate alum.  She just told me she is looking forward to attending the Bobcat Caravan when it hits Columbus where she lives and works. 

I chose OU without ever visiting Athens. I grabbed a brochure one day and as soon as I saw the bricks and the green trees I knew where I was going, I didn't even look at another school. One of my favorite movies as a kid was Animal House and the campus had a Faber College look to it.  

I remember my first day on campus, I had just unpacked, sent my parents on their way, and was getting to know some of the guys that lived on my floor. A group of us decided to head out to check out the town, and as we were standing on the corner of Union and Congress we see a guy up the street get out of his car with a case a beer and walk into his house. We decided, in a moment of inspiration, to go up to the house and ask him if he'll take us to buy some beer too. At the time, it made sense.

We knock, the guy comes to the door, and we give our pitch. He looks at us and laughs and says 'What, are you guys freshmen or something?" Sheepishly we say yes, he then says "'cool, let's go!" A couple of us hop in his car while the rest of us sprint back to the dorm to get a big duffle bag. We meet up in the dorm parking garage, a case of Old Milwaukee for us, and another one for our mystery shopper. We thanked him profusely and he just smiled and said "enjoy it. welcome to OU."  and drove off. 

I have no idea who that guy was but that was the one of coolest thing I'd ever seen anybody do. I think he defined for me what the OU mindset is all about- there are no strangers in Athens, just fellow Bobcats you haven't partied with yet. Needless to say, I did my best to pay it forward. 

true story.
 

I came because they let me bring my Basset Hound, The Beast, to campus.

And, apparently, with my usual exceptional forethought, to lay groundwork for coming here and aggravatating those of you who don't want your horizons expanded.







sense of humor, anyone?!