COWBOY FOOTBALL TRADITIONS

Created By Amanda Brown

The Oklahoma A&M Aggies

In1901,OklahomaStatestarteditsfirstseasonoffootball,formerlyknownasOklahomaA&M.Itsschedulewasnothingcomparedtotoday.ThefirstgameplayedwasagainstKingfisher,playedinKing-fisher,Okla.TheOklahomaAggie’slost0-12.Therestofthatseasonincludedfourmoregames,withtwomorelossesandtwowins.Duringthistime,theAggie’sdidnothaveaheadcoach.In1902therewasnotateam.The1903seasonwaslackingaheadcoachaswell,andwithtwolossesandtwoties,itwasindesperateneedofaheadcoach.The1904seasonwasnotlookinggoodandthingsneededtochangequickly. In1905,TheOklahomaAggie’shaditsfirstwinsincetheirfirstsea-sonin1901.TheybeatCentralState5-0athome.Forthenextcoupleofyearstheyhadonewineachseason.Then,in1908,theyhadtheirbestseasonyetwithfourwinsandthreelosses. In1906,theAggie’sgotitsfirstheadcoach,BoydA.Hill.

In1915,theAggie’swouldjoinitsfirstconference,theSouth-westconference.Therewere15menontheroster,andtheyleftthatseasonwitha4-5-1record. TheAggie’scontinuedintheSouthwestconferenceuntil1925whenitjoinedtheMVIAAconfer-ence.Thisdidn’tlastverylong.In1928,theyjoinedtheMissouriValleyConference,whichwasalsoconsideredtheBig6,andwouldstayinthisconferenceuntil1956.Duringthisperiod,theAggie’swouldgothroughfiveplusheadcoachesandbeMissouriValleyChampionsfivetimeswhilegoingtobowlgamesliketheSugarBowl,DeltaBowlandCottonBowl. In1956,TheAggiesan-nouncedtheywouldjointheBigSeven,alsoknownastheIndepen-dentConference.Theystayedinthisconferencethroughthe1959season,andthenjoinedtheBigEight,butinMayof1957,Okla-homaA&MchangeditsnametoOklahomaStateUniversity.Thislastedforseveraldecadesupuntil1996.In1997,theCowboysjoinedtheBig12Conference.

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Pistols Firing!!

SinceOklahomaA&Mfootballstarted,ithasalwaysbeenconsid-eredanagricultureschool,whichiswhyitwascalledtheAggies.ThatallchangedwhensportseditoroftheOklahomaCityTimesandoth-erwritersconsideredtheteamtheA&MCowboys.Thename“Cow-boys”stuck. In1923,FrankB“PistolPete”Eaton,whowasaU.S.deputymarshal,leadtheArmisticeDayParadeinStillwater.Atthatpoint,thesearchforanewmascotwasover.

Eatonwasasymboloftoughnessandwastheperfectimageofaself-reliantcowboy,butitwasnotuntil1984thathewasconsideredtheofficial“PistolPete”.

PistolPeteattendedalloftheathleticactivitiesandbuildingdedi-cations.Hewouldposeforphotos,signautographsandtalktoany-bodywhowouldlistenaboutthe“OldWest”and“backintheday”.HewasalivingsymbolofOklaho-maStatefor35years. Eachyear,10to15peopletryouttobePistolPete.PastPis-tolPetesformapanelofjudgestoseewhohasthepassiontowearthefamoushead.Thetryoutsarebasedonamime,aninter-viewandandaposefordifferent“gamesituations”.Fromthetry-outs,twopeoplearepickedtosplittheroughly500appearancesthataremadebythemascoteachyear.YoucanreadacompletehistoryofFrankB“PistolPete”Eatonat:http://www.okstate.com/trads/pistol-pete.html

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Ki Yi! Ki Ye!

TheWavingSongisoneofthemanytraditionsatOSUthathasbeenaroundforalongtime.Thethoughtofitstartedin1908whenaspeechinstructornamedH.G.SeldySeldombridgemadeatriptoNewYorkfortoscoutforaseniorclassplay.Whilethere,heheardpeoplehummingthetune“InOldNewYork”,ahitclassicfrom“TheRedMill”.HereturnedtoOklahomahummingthesametune. Shortlyafter,heincorporatethetuneintooneofhisclosingnumbersforacollegefolliesshow.WhilerehearsingatStillwater’sGrandOperaHouse,herealized,withtheorangeandblackdecora-tionsonthestage,thatNewYork’sstylewasoutofplaceforacollegesetting. “SuddenlyOAMCflashedtomymind,”heexplainedin1941.Within10minutes,hehadnewlyricstothesametune.Forthefinaleofthecollegefolliesshow,studentsaddedtheirownmemo-rabletouchtothesongthatwouldforeverbecontinued.Thestudentswavedinunisontotheaudiencewhilesinging“OAMC!OAMC!We’llsingyourpraisetonight!”

Lyrics to The Waving Song

OklahomaState!OklahomaState!We’llsingyourpraisetonight;Toletyouknowwheree’rewego,FortheOrangeandBlackwe’llfightWe’llsingyourwortho’eralltheEarthAndshout:KiYi!KiYe!Inbooksoffamewe’llwriteyourname,OklahomaState!

CheckoutavideoofTheWavingSonginactionat:http://www.you-tube.com/watch?v=orvHXlKt6S0

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Traditions

TherearemanytraditionsthattakeplaceatOklahomaState.FromOrangePeeltoHomecom-ing,PistolPetetoBullet,therearemanythingsthatfactorintomakethe“collegeexperience”uniqueontheOSUcampus.Twoofthebiggestandmostwell-knowntra-ditionsatOSUaretheSpiritWalkandtheAlmaMater. LesMiles,thepreviousheadfootballcoachatOSUstartedtheSpiritWalk.Thenightbeforegame-day,thewholeteamwouldspendthenightinthefamousAthertonHotellocatedattheStu-dentUniononcampus.Thentwohoursandfifteenminutesbefore

kick-off,theteamwalkeddownHesterStreettoBoonePickensStadium.ThistraditioniscarriedonbyHeadCoachMikeGundy.HeleadstheteamalongwiththeOSU

MarchingBand,PistolPete,andthespiritsquad.FansgatheralongthesidesofHesterStreetandcheerontheCowboys.ThishasbecomeafavoritetraditionoftheOSUfans. LesMilesstartedanothertra-ditionin2002,theAlmaMater,apost-gametraditionatBoonePick-ensStadium.Aftereachwin,thecoachesandplayersgathernearthestudentsection,andallfansareencouragedtoriseandlockarmstosingtheAlmaMaterhymn.

Lyrics to the Alma Mater

ProudandimmortalBrightshinesourname

OklahomaStateWeheraldyourfame,Everyou’llfindusLoyalandtrue,

ToourAlmaMaterO-S-U!!

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