Being that today is all about football* here in the US (for anyone who isn’t out shopping), I thought I’d talk a little bit about being an alumna from a Big 12 school.

I frequently tell people I don’t like football, that I’m really just a baseball fan. That’s only half true – I don’t like all the woo-ha that goes into football. I got pretty burned out on it in High School, where I missed three games in four years, having had knee surgery, and in those four years my school went to the playoffs every year. Football started with marching band on August 1, and went every week until (usually) mid-December.

So when I got to college, I just didn’t have any “school spirit” left – I didn’t care anymore. I went to one football game the entire time I was at Baylor, and that one I left partway through. It just wasn’t my thing anymore.

As an alumna though, I find that I pay more attention to Baylor sports than I did when I was actually there on campus. I’m certainly not as into it as I am baseball, and the season is a lot shorter and there are a lot fewer games, but I watch them whenever I get the chance – which is helped by the fact that they’re in the Big 12 and a “local” school, so the games are almost always televised.

Part of my enthusiasm is, I’m sorry to say, that Baylor sucks a lot less than they did when I was actually on campus. It was kind of demoralizing to hear about losing repeatedly. In fact, it was generally just easier not to go, and to wait and see if they lit Pat Neff Hall up with green lights and rang the bells at 11pm. Then you could be happy about a win, but otherwise you didn’t have to be involved.

*****

This post is prompted by the fact that Baylor, on Saturday, did something that they’ve never done in the history of the school.

Baylor beat OU, 45-38. The previous record was 0-20 against Oklahoma. The current record is 1-20.

I almost didn’t watch the game, because I had other things to do (see: yesterday’s post about Thanksgiving), but I decided that I had some writing to do, so I’d sit with my laptop and give the Bears some time.

Boy howdy am I glad I did.

(Of course, I’m not going to watch much football today, because I only really care about college football, and I only REALLY care about Baylor, but still. It seemed a good day to make a football post and lose half my followers for being a sports fan. That’s been the theme this week I guess!)

*I’m speaking of American Football here, since that’s the game that’s a Big Deal today.