A local commentator in Oklahoma says there’s almost nothing in that state “to cheer for.” He says that by almost any quality of life standard Oklahoma looks terrible.
Instead of asking what in l’esprit d’Oklahome might account for this outcome, the writer proceeds to thank the state’s lucky stars for its football teams.
OU and OSU football have become sources of state pride at a time you can scarcely find them anywhere else.
But… Shouldn’t the guy be asking how it was that Oklahoma got stuck with 70,000 square miles of meh plus two university football teams?
Ask any chancellor, elected official or traveling businessperson and they’ll tell you — nothing has a bigger impact on the perception of universities or the states in which they educate than their sports teams. In Oklahoma, that means their football teams.
The general perception of Oklahoma, for reasons the writer lists (terrible schools, horrible health indicators, over-full prisons… he didn’t have time to mention stuff like the fact that the state’s senior senator showed climate change is a hoax by bringing a snowball to the senate chamber), is bad. If football teams had the biggest impact imaginable on the public perception of a state, Oklahoma would be right up there with Massachusetts and its… university football teams?
I mean I dunno. Some problems with logic here.
June 27th, 2016 at 3:32PM
There is no problem with logic here—the author is probably proud of the generally low state of Oklahoma education—after all, he only judges states on their football teams.
Or, perhaps, he is aware of an inverse correlation between between football pride and anything of value to people who don’t put football first. “Nothing has a bigger impact on the perception of universities or the states in which they educate than their sports teams” is consistent with that interpretation—there is no assertion of *positive* impact.
June 27th, 2016 at 3:44PM
gasstationwithoutpumps: I see your reasoning. Makes sense.
June 28th, 2016 at 2:46PM
And let’s not forget New York — how many of the state universities in New York have DI football teams? New York seems to be doing just fine. And to be honest, would you rather live in Vermont or Oklahoma? UVM doesn’t even have a football team. New Hampshire or Oklahoma? UNH has a successful program at the next tier of D1 football, nothing comparable to Oklahoma or Okie State, and it seems fine. Indeed, how many major D1 football teams are in New England? BC, sure. UConn, sort of? Everyone else plays in what used to be DI-AA or lower, with a preponderance of DIII schools.