Why I Wear Orange....

Why I Wear Orange. Is orange a particularly pretty color? no. Yet we all find it beautiful. Is it a popular color? Fashion right now has a lot of orange in it, but normally, it isn't. Is it a powerful color? it is eye catching, but not really considered a power color. So why in the world do I and the other faithful love it so much?

The color is a symbol. It is all we remember of our Oklahoma State experiences. To us it not only symbolizes all the national championships, but also 0-10-1. It is Theta Pond, it is Fraternity Row, it is the Union. It is Barry Sanders, Walt Garrison, and even Dexter Manley. It is Eddie Sutton, Leonard Hamilton, Les Miles, Pat Jones, Mike Gundy, and Henry Iba. It is the wrestling team, soccer team, and even the intramural teams. It is meeting your friends at Joes or the Hideaway. It is Pistol Pete. It is the Waving Song or the Alma Mater. It is the Walk, it is tailgating. It is that girl you always wanted to ask out but never did. It is that guy that you were too shy to talk to. It is risks taken, it is wild success and fantastic failures. 

It isn’t just the buildings, it is the memories that we make in them. It is late night Pizza Shuttle runs. It is no air conditioning in the dorm or getting tickets from campus police. It is not understanding your chemistry instructor or that really nerdy English grad student. It is signing up for a 5 hour class at 7:30 in the morning as a freshman. It is learning to never do that again. It is hating OU. It is Bedlam. It is showing our recruits how much we appreciate them, it is feeling disappointed when some choose to go elsewhere, or the elation of them deciding to come to OSU and join our family. It is having unbridled optimism that others call orange colored glasses.

 What makes orange so very special isn’t just the best of times; it is also the worst of times. It is beating OU 16-13 but it is equal parts remembering the 10 that were taken from us in the Colorado Plane crash. It is about winning national championships, but it is also honoring the memory of Vernon Grant and Darrent Williams and the feeling of loss. It is as much the reveling in Barry’s Heisman as it is the probation that followed. It is all the highs and the lows that bring us together and form this bond that unite us all. Orange is all of those things. It is always relevant, it is always appropriate. 

We can't talk about our feelings for our school without going into stories that would make people's eyes glaze over. It is hard to explain to people that the reason we wear orange isn't just because of sports. It isn't because of any one thing or even 100 things. Orange is pride in all things OSU. Be they good things or bad things, they are all part of why I love OSU. When I see people wearing OSU hats or shirts, most of the time no words have to be spoken. Just a nod or a smile and we both know that orange is something special.

Time passes… We grow up… Most of us leave Stillwater… Yet we always feel like we are back there when we wear this beautiful color. Orange is knowing that together, we can not only survive anything, but we will succeed.

I'm wearing my orange - are you?