In 2020, we are seeing athletes, sponsors, and fans ask their teams and universities to make a real change to their image across the sports landscape. One easy, simplistic way to begin that change is through language. More specifically, the names we use to refer to schools, mascots, buildings, and team names carry weight. Changing them may be a tangible step in moving in the right direction, and it is definitely a way to stop honoring those on the wrong side of history. As seen last month, the Washington Racial Slurs are planning on changing their name (and we have some ideas to help!). The Cleveland Indians have also recently debated their own name (and we have some ideas to help them, too!). But a university that could use a makeover? The University of Oklahoma.
Now, when I say “Oklahoma football,” one song immediately starts playing in the heads of anyone who has ever actually seen them play… Odds are, your hearing it right now.
“Boomer sooner, boomer sooner. Boomer sooner, boomer sooner. Boomer sooner, boomer sooner. Boomer Sooner, OK U.” Yes, there’s a tune to it… but that is the song. The overly repetitive, simple song. And the end? OK U. Not “Great University,” Yes, OK is short for Oklahoma… but the abbreviation for the University of Oklahoma is OU, not OKU (and, on a side note, why isn’t it UO?).
Annoying fight song aside, the question everyone has after playing Oklahoma is simple: “Ok boomer, what is a sooner?”
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First, it needs to be clear that a boomer in reference to OU is not the same as a boomer in reference to someone born between 1946 and 1965. Both “Boomers” and “Sooners” are actually references to white settlers in Oklahoma in the late 1800s.
“Boomers” showed up to Oklahoma before the passage of the Unassigned Land Act of 1889. The Boomer Movement was predicated on claiming land in Oklahoma that belonged to Native American nations but was being taken away. Some nations had sided with the Confederacy in the Civil War and thus lost claim to some of the lands in Oklahoma in the Reconstruction Treaties that followed. “Boomers” got their moniker for showing up and causing a ruckus, a la a “boom,” between the end of the war and the passage of the treaty. The Boomers were claiming land that was going to be taken away from the indigenous peoples before it was taken away.
So if that’s a “boomer,” what’s a “sooner?”
Sooners are really just quiet boomers. They were often deputies, railroad workers, or other white people with early access to the land to help prepare it for future white settlement post-1889 Sooners were living on the land, but not in homes or traditional settlements… until the 1889 act was passed and the Oklahoma Land Rush began. Then, the wagons and tents the Sooners had lived in, according to them, meant they owned the land.
“Boomer Sooner” could simply be replaced by “Cheater Cheater” or “Theif Theif” and mean essentially the same thing. Boomers were loud and unapologetic but believed the land in Oklahoma was theirs before it was legally theirs. Sooners were sneaky and took advantage of their positioning, but believed the land in Oklahoma was theirs before it was legally theirs. In either scenario, it was a group of white folks coming to take land away from Native Americans and gain statehood.
The song Boomer Sooner has been a tradition at Oklahoma since 1905, and they have gone by the Sooners since 1906. But like many traditions from more than 100 years ago, some things need to change.
Luckily, those of us at Belly Up Sports are here to help! Here are some great options the guys have come up with. Read them over, vote on your favorite, and let us know if you have any better ideas in the comments below!
Parker’s Idea: Okies
Ok so yes, “Okies” are just what you call a person from Oklahoma. It would be like having the University of Texas Texans, the University of California- Berkeley Californians, or the University of Florida Floridians. It seems far too simple.
But there is a literary reference that Okies have and other states don’t. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath depicts a family of Okies on their way to California during the dust bowl. They make the treacherous journey to California, realize the promise-land has more broken promises, and end up pushing and fighting to make ends meet as blue-collar workers.
Tough, blue-collar survivors is a great way to brand Oklahoma’s athletic program. The protagonists to the snooty, highfalutin Californian antagonists. Survivors of catastrophes like the Great Depression or the Dust Bowl… Okies just don’t quit.
While Okies were tied to the lower class in Steinbeck’s novel and during the 1930s, it has since become a common term for Oklahomans. John Tyler Hammons, an 18 year old elected to be the mayor of Muskogee, Oklahoma, told everyone he was proud to be an Okie throughout his campaign.
This wouldn’t have to be a giant rebrand, either. Color schemes could still be crimson and cream, playing off of a grapes type of color scheme. They could make silly plays off of other Steinbeck novels, whether that involves mice, men, or Eden. They don’t have a “sooner” logo to redo, they can keep the OU. And the Sooner Schooner? That can easily become cart the Joads moved west in.
Chaka’s Idea: Oklahoma Touchdowns
Damn it, OU!
I love watching your offense! I love the consternation you cause Texas fans! I love how unapologetically you play football!
You are unabashedly offensive-forward!
Why do we have to talk to you about this name thing? Like, this is even the state nickname! For reals?!
Somebody, come get your mans!
Now, let’s be creative.
OU could stand for Offense University. Blink and Lincoln Riley’s offense will drop 50 on you…in a half!!!
Name this team the Touchdowns…stupid easy, right?
“But Chaka, what about the other sports?”
Oh…yeah. Ummm, how do we swing this?
Wait- Oklahoma is smack in the middle of Tornado Alley, the region of the United States that is flatter than Kid ‘n Play’s hair in 1990.
Okay, now we are playing off of the tornados that the area is known for. Twisters tear through on a regular basis. They hit quick and do a ton of damage in not a lot of time- kind of like OU’s offense in football.
Touchdowns, baby!
Let me know what other problems I can fix for you, Oklahoma. I’ll be here all week. Remember to tip your sports writers and enjoy your new team name!
Kev’s Idea: Oklahoma Mountain Boomers
The name Oklahoma will be problematic in 15 years, as it comes from okla and humma in Choctaw, meaning “red people”. But, one thing at a time.
The Oklahoma State reptile is the common collared lizard, otherwise known as a “mountain boomer.” Teams love changing their name just enough to make it inoffensive but keeping the spirit of their history. Mountain Boomer literally has “Boomer” in it. Instead of saying “Boomer Sooner,” they can literally just say “Boomer.”
Calling Oklahoma “common” also makes sense. Recently, they’ve been good, but not great. Yes, they make the college football playoff every year, but… I’ll just tell you the scores.
17-37
48-54
34-45
28-63
Yes, outside of last year, Oklahoma isn’t getting blown out. But they’re not winning any of those games. They’re also 4-6 in bowl games since 2011. Yeah, not exactly great, pretty much average. Common is a fitting name for this team, but Mountain Boomers sounds better.
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Find Parker (@painsworth512), Chaka (@chakacummings) and Kev (@BellyUpKev) on Twitter, and check out the Mascot Madness articles on old NBA Teams, the Texas Rangers, the University of Mississippi, the Cleveland Indians, and the Washington Racial Slurs for more mascot related content
