College Bowls 2000


	BOWL HISTORY\| MESSAGE BOARD

Title T-shirts a hot item in cold Norman
Associated Press

NORMAN, Okla. -- Just hours after the Oklahoma Sooners had beaten Florida State 13-2 for the college football national championship, Tim Bruno stood in subfreezing temperatures wearing an OU T-shirt -- and waiting on another one.

"I've just got to have something with '2000 national champions' on it," he said.

He wasn't alone.

They stood in a line as long as a football field early Thursday outside the USA Screen Printing and Embroidery Company in Oklahoma City, which was churning out the first in what will be a crimson-and-cream sea of clothing touting OU's Orange Bowl win.

Further down the line, Barbara Brown said she was willing to stand in line as long as it takes.

The temperature wasn't bothering David Attaway, either.

"As long as I get to work sometime today, I'll be standing in line," he said.

It was a wonderful dementia.

The Oklahoma Sooners captured their first football national championship in 15 years, kicking off a night of frenzy and frolic for the Sooner faithful.

They ambled loudly through the streets in Norman -- just a Josh Heupel pass from OU's Memorial Stadium.

Amid a symphony of honking car horns, one man stood at a corner with an OU flag, taunting passing cars as if he were a matador.

Police officers warned revelers on foot not to bring alcohol outside of bars, and some were told to move along. But the clamor marked a renaissance -- not a riot.

"I've been an OU fan for 10 years," said Robert Griffin, who was watching the game at O'Connell's in Norman. "I knew one year we would pull it off. Don't nobody know how I feel right now, baby!"

Twyla Ward attended OU in the 1980s -- when the Sooners won the most recent of their six prior national championships -- and said it was exciting to see them on top again.

"I can't believe it. The only points they scored were the ones we scored for them!" she said.

At the Bricktown Brewery in Oklahoma City, a man stood in front of one of two big-screen TVs, waving a 1955 Oklahoma National Championship flag as seconds wound down in Wednesday night's game.

The meaning behind the scene was not lost on Billy Mercer, who wore a white Sooner jersey and the two national championship rings he earned as a receiver on the Sooners' 1974 and 1975 championship teams.

"It's been a long time since we've been here. It's been great to see Barry Switzer back on the sidelines again," he said, referring to the former OU coach who was a field fixture at Oklahoma games throughout the season.

OU student Matt Mernka said he never doubted the Sooners wouldn't win.

"Next year will be even better. They'll just keep on going," he said.

After the game, people poured out of bars in downtown Oklahoma City and drove their cars up and down city streets honking. Red Sooner flags blossomed from their windows.

A group of more than a dozen fans stood in the middle of a downtown intersection blocking traffic. No violence here, though. Only hugs and high fives with anyone who was willing. Police watched from a distance.

"It's nice to be back on top and be able to compete with anyone," Marice Baker said.

Unbeaten Sooners end No. 1 debate at Orange Bowl

Frozen moment: OU defense did the unthinkable

It's unanimous: Sooners are champions

Heupel does what it takes to beat Seminoles, secure title

Sooners' unheralded secondary stars against FSU

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