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"Boomer Sooner" is the
fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...
for the
University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , p ...
(OU). The lyrics were written in 1905 by Arthur M. Alden, an OU student and son of a local jeweler in
Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
. The tune is taken from " Boola Boola", the fight song of
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
(which was itself borrowed from an 1898 song called "La Hoola Boola" by Robert Allen (Bob) Cole and Billy Johnson). A year later, an additional section was appended, borrowed from the
University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sys ...
's " I'm a Tar Heel Born".


Origin of the lyrics

The phrase "Boomer Sooner" refers to the
Land Run of 1889 The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of former Indian Territory, which had earlier been assigned to the Creek and Seminole peoples. The area that was opened to settlement included all or part of Canadi ...
, in which the land around the modern university was settled — the so-called Unassigned Lands not part of any Native American nation or reservation through the 1880s. '' Boomers'' were people who lobbied for the lands to be opened (and raided into them illegally) before passage of the
Indian Appropriations Act The Indian Appropriations Act is the name of several acts passed by the United States Congress. A considerable number of acts were passed under the same name throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the most notable landmark acts cons ...
of 1889. '' Sooners'' were Boomers who sneaked into the region to scout and claim the prime quarter-mile tracts before the official noon opening on April 22, 1889. If the charge of early entry was proven, these "Sooners" would lose title to their claimed land. The unique term "Sooner" was embraced as the University athletic teams' nickname by 1908, and by the 1920s was Oklahoma's defacto state nickname, "The Sooner State."


Uses

The OU marching band plays the fight song when the team takes the field and when the team scores a touchdown, makes a big play, or makes a play in general. They also play it along with other fight songs while the Oklahoma defense is on the field to encourage the crowd to get loud. Some fans have informally counted it being played between 70 and 90 times a game.
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The co ...
writer Doug Ward has called the combined effect of "Boomer Sooner" and OU's horse-drawn Sooner Schooner wagon "as potent a one-two fight song/mascot punch as you'll find in college football."


The day "The Pride" won

On October 15, 1983, the University of Oklahoma football team visited
Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, Ne ...
in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Sooner squad played poorly at first, and within 10 minutes Oklahoma State was winning by a score of 20-3. A policeman escorted Gene Thrailkill, the Oklahoma band director, off the field for not having a sideline pass. Before he was forced to leave, Thrailkill shouted to the band members, "I want you to start playing and don't stop 'til the team's ahead!" The band complied and played "Boomer Sooner" non-stop roughly 300 times. The team responded by scoring 15 unanswered points against Oklahoma State. After an OSU fumble with 1:17 left in the game, Oklahoma scored a field goal to win 21-20. OU coach Barry Switzer awarded the game ball to the band (known as "The Pride of Oklahoma") for the non-stop effort and labeled it "The Day The Pride Won".


In popular culture

Professional wrestling announcer and Oklahoma native
Jim Ross James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator, analyst, and senior advisor. Ross is best known for a long and distinguished career as ...
uses the fight song as his entrance theme. He also often uses the phrase "Boomer Sooner" to signify a good moment. In recent years, "Boomer Sooner" has been adopted as a chant at Sooner football and basketball games. One side of Owen Field or the
Lloyd Noble Center The Lloyd Noble Center is a 10,967-seat multi-purpose arena located in Norman, Oklahoma, some south of downtown Oklahoma City. It opened in 1975 and is home to the University of Oklahoma men's and women's basketball teams. History Before the co ...
chants "Boomer!" with the other side chanting "Sooner!" The chant has frequently been heard at recent
Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and har ...
presentations, led by 1978 Heisman winner
Billy Sims Billy Ray Sims (born September 18, 1955) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons during the 1980s. Sims played college football for the Universi ...
. The tune of the song is also used for Albania's popular national song, "Shqipëri, atdhe i dashur!" ("Albania, dear fatherland!"), also known as the Alphabet Hymn. The tune was borrowed by
Parashqevi Qiriazi Parashqevi Qiriazi, also known as Paraskevi D. Kyrias (2 June 1880 – 17 December 1970) was an Albanian teacher of the Kyrias family who dedicated her life to the Albanian alphabet and to the instruction of written Albanian language. She was a ...
, who penned patriotic lyrics to fit it, after the historic Congress of Manastir which decided the Albanian alphabet.


References


External links


Boomer Sooner at SoonerSports.com
{{authority control American college songs College fight songs in the United States Big 12 Conference fight songs University of Oklahoma 1905 songs