Where Do We as Oklahoma State Fans Go From Here?

We have a predicament.

No, this isn’t about Brad Underwood or Mike Holder. This is about you and me and 13,609 of our closest friends.

I’ll admit, Mike has himself backed into quite a corner and we can justifiably feel somewhat displeased with how Brad handled his Houdini-style exit.

There have been about 3,268 articles written from nearly every angle on this over the past 3 days and I’ve read just about all of them, as I’m sure you have. Not a great look all around and it’s difficult to make sense of it all.

Here’s a live shot of me the last 72 hours …

But here we are — 2017 and searching for a basketball coach and while fans are setting up schedules for the fall and blocking off calendar dates for various events already.

The question that has gnawed at my mind the past several days is, will (or should) I buy tickets for next year? Now, this may not be popular to share and may make me look like a bad fan, but I’m going to shoot you straight here.

For the record, I’m not a recent fan. I’m a fifth-generation Poke whose great great grandfather helped build Old Central. I lived in West Texas for most of my formative years and always wore bright orange in a world of Tech red, Texas burnt orange, A&M maroon, and Baylor….well, whatever that ugly radioactive puke color is.

The only fight I’ve ever been in was in fourth grade when I shoved a kid for saying there was only one university in Oklahoma and their colors were red (he actually believed this, which is understandable seeing as there was no ESPNU back then and also because we were only 11).

I LOVE the Pokes, but I’m not sold on Cowboy basketball right now which makes me very sad.

Part of this could be my upbringing so far away. We would occasionally make the 8-hour drive up I-35 to watch a football game and could catch them on TV often, but basketball games were more difficult and were rarely televised down in the land of Friday Night Lights.

We moved back to OKC when I was in middle school and I went up to Stillwater for as many basketball games as possible, but by then the program was already under Sean’s control and GIA was on a bit of a downhill slide from the legend I always heard described.

Soon Travis came with his ups and downs and we all know about that full well. I spent five years at OSU, often planted firmly behind the visitors bench cheering as loud as possible, but there was always still a bit of a disconnect, even when we would pull off the impossible-cum-ordinary feat of taking down Kansas.

I felt my heart changing for OSU basketball over the course of this last year. Having just watched every game of Ford’s tenure I was hesitant on Brad and not willing to buy season tickets quite yet. Thanks to a wonderful friend (birthday s/o to Jon J.) and some good deals from the athletic department, I was still able to make it to around half dozen home games this season.

Boy, am I glad I did. I was sitting (read: standing/jumping/screaming) in the top of the 300s for the Baylor game and have never felt such an atmosphere anywhere before. GIA was alive. The legend was real. It all made sense and, for a second, I caught a glimpse of what I had always been told of. Brad had brought it back, and on the drive home, I was Googling ticket prices and calendar dates and preparing to lay out a great case to my wife for why we NEEDED to get season tickets next year.

Woof. What now.

I’m sad. I feel a bit deceived. Disappointed that the greatness I saw for a second may have just been a passing shadow. Afraid that GIA will retreat back to the only way I had ever seen it before. I want to believe that that place can roar and that this team can win. I did believe, and then, Brad left. So, again, what now?

It’s hard as fans to believe again. It’s hard to look past what just happened and see the future-or the past for that matter. I’ve seen a lot of fans lately saying Brad was a liar and they will never be so naïve as to believe again. To pay for tickets is to support the belief in the program, where it is, what it stands for, and where it is going.

I’ve done some quick math, and a pair of recent graduate price tickets (recall, these are the cheapest non-student tickets available and you sit near the top of the 300s where you have to duck whenever the Hubble telescope passes by) is the equivalent of 23.5 tanks of gas for my car. That’s enough gas to make exactly TWO roundtrip journeys from San Diego to Jacksonville with a bit left over.

The price of recent grad tickets is also the equivalent of the difference of bringing a lunch to work and not eating out for 80 days. These are a bit silly examples, but it plays right? When it comes down to it, we as fans have to be willing to put down cash for these tickets and this program and the man leading it.

I mean, if Mike Holder wants me to eat 16 straight weeks of turkey sandwiches, I’m going to have to believe in this this program and the guy they bring in. Brad had me, and maybe I’m a fool for believing him after what’s gone down, but he had me bought in. We need someone else who can do that, and I’m not sure there are a lot of options with the mood and recent turn of events.

I’m neither riding nor greasing the tracks of the #BringDougHome campaign, but I do think he has this singular aspect better covered than any other possible candidate.

That is not to say other candidates wouldn’t be good fits, or have better experience, or even wouldn’t bring that feeling of buying in eventually, but that will take time. Will I throw down the necessary cash to get tickets to watch another mid-major coach rally this team with the hesitation in the back of my mind he could be at Washington or A&M or Idaho State the next year? I’m not sure, maybe after a year or two of results.

Would I buy in if they bring back Doug? Getting closer for sure, but there are still hesitations. Now, Doug, with the announcement of the Cursive Cowboy return and Desmond Mason dunking in pre-games?!

Sign me up, lock me in for a 10-year contract, and I’m already searching the (future) PFB online store for some dope gear to wear to every game.

Cowboy fans need something to buy into — literally. But more importantly they need someone to buy into. You may get there in a year or two with another mid-major who shows he can win and will stay for at least a few years, but Holder has a potential shortcut to the heart (and wallets) of the fan base if he knows where to look.