Sooner Schooner crash is a rarity
NORMAN — Something happened on Owen Field last Saturday that hasn't happened in 26 years.
The Sooner Schooner tipped over, crashing to the ground in the second quarter of Oklahoma's game against West Virginia. It was the first time the Schooner had tipped since 1993 when it fell over during a home game against Colorado.
Erik Gee was a Ruf/ Nek in the Schooner when it last tipped. He was inside because it was his job at the time to
hold the guy who held the flag out the back.
The Schooner went out after the Sooners kicked a field goal, and — similar to the 2019 crash — tipped while making a turn.
Gee doesn't know exactly why it happened, but he remembers “feeling the wheels kind of go Dukes of Hazzard” as the Schooner balanced on two wheels before crashing on its side.
“The best way I can describe it is if you were a kid and you got in an appliance box to play, the only way you could get out was to — you had to knock it over and crawl out. Well that's what it was like for me,” Gee said.
“I remember just
thinking for a second, `All right what just happened?' crawling out, and then, with everybody else around, kind of helping get the Schooner back up right.”
Gee wasn't injured, but he remembers a few people were banged up, and someone hurt their leg.
Though never a driver himself, Gee said he thinks the Ruf/ Neks involved in this crash are probably taking it just as hard as they did in 1993. The drivers are trained well, and they take a lot of pride in their organization and their responsibility at games because of how much they care about the university.
The main difference between the two crashes is that the Schooner stayed in one piece in 1993. This time, it split in two, with the ponies pulling the wheels and base away from the covered wagon. Because it stayed together last time, the Schooner was up and running for the next game. That won't be the case this time.
The Sooner Schooner will not run for the rest of the season, according to a statement Kenny Mossman gave to The Oklahoman on Tuesday. The Schooner that crashed will be repaired and used for static display, possibly appearing again this year.
The plan is to have a new Schooner constructed, though there is no timetable for it yet. Mossman said he assumes it will be ready by the spring football game, barring any unexpected delays.
With such a long time between falls, Gee thinks it is a testament to how hard the Ruf/Nek drivers train and how much pride they take in what they do.
“It tells me they know exactly what they're doing, and the tradition we have in place, there's no reason to change it because it works,” Gee said. “One incident in almost 30 years? Come on, accidents are going to happen.”