NORMAN — Soon enough, the field at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium will be used for its intended purpose.
Football is for another day, though.
Monday’s day-long welcome-to-the-SEC celebration, which started and ended at the stadium, was much more about the fans than anything else.
Several hundred fans spent Monday evening in the stadium, listening to live music, enjoying a variety of games and activities, shopping for new OU gear featuring the SEC logo and taking advantage of photo opportunities on the field.
The stadium’s video boards displayed the “OU X SEC” logo and the ribbon boards on the stadium’s east side displayed not only that logo but the SEC’s “It just means more” mantra.
The 10 flag poles along the top of the east-side upper deck all carried the blue SEC flags.
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The poles atop the massive video board in the south end zone featured flags of each of the SEC’s members, from Alabama to Vanderbilt.
The festivities kicked off late Sunday night with a 5k run that ended on the stadium’s 50-yard line, followed by a fireworks show at midnight when OU’s move to the SEC was official.
They continued throughout Monday with events not only in Norman but in Oklahoma and Tulsa as well.
Then they wrapped up at the stadium, with the evening party which concluded with appearances from OU athletic director Joe Castiglione, school president Joseph Harroz Jr., and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
“We are in a new era of college athletics, a new era of the Southeastern Conference,” Sankey said of the SEC’s move to add OU and Texas.
Sankey, Harroz and Castiglione came to the event from a black-tie gala honoring the move.
“I’ll tell you this right now, the heart and soul of the University of Oklahoma is here…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ou-sec-celebration-wraps-drone-033102092.html
Author : The Oklahoman
Publish date : 2024-07-02 03:31:02
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