Oklahoma’s rich sports history includes more than Sooners | Adams

Joining the SEC is nothing like competing in the SEC. I’m sure the conference’s newest members – Oklahoma and Texas – won’t need much time to figure that out.

The ego and revenue boost that comes with SEC membership is substantial. But negotiating an SEC schedule in almost any sports can be challenging at best.

Oklahoma’s first SEC football game – next Saturday in Norman against Tennessee – should be both challenging and historic.

The challenge will go both ways, though. The Vols have sputtered recently in SEC road games. And road trips to Norman, Oklahoma, seldom go well for anyone.

Being chosen as Oklahoma’s first SEC opponent makes you part of Sooners history. However, considering how successful Oklahoma football has been, I doubt any SEC athletic director lobbied conference commissioner Greg Sankey for the honor of welcoming the Sooners into the league.

Oklahoma has won seven national championships and 49 conference titles. It also has produced seven Heisman Trophy winners.

Sooners football might serve as the centerpiece of the state’s sports. But there is so much more to Oklahoma sports. You can see that for yourself if you have time to visit the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in downtown Oklahoma City while following the Vols.

Any sports fan can appreciate this hall of fame. There are so many prominent inductees it’s almost as though you’re touring a national sports hall of fame. You will recognize many of the names and probably think:  “I didn’t realize they had an Oklahoma connection. “

I’ll offer a few examples.

Jim Thorpe: An ABC poll ranked him as the greatest athlete of the 20^th century. It’s easy to see why.

He won Olympic gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon. He also distinguished himself in football as a running back, placekicker, and punter. He played professional football, basketball, and baseball.

Mickey Mantle: He is one of the greatest and most popular New York Yankees of all-time. Few players in baseball history could match his combination of speed and power, and his tape-measure home runs were legendary. He was a 16-time All-Star, still holds a handful of World Series records and made the Baseball Hall of Fame the first year he was eligible.

Mantle was so good as a high school running back Oklahoma offered him a scholarship.

Warren Spahn: He also made the hall of fame the first year he was eligible after winning 363 games – more than any other lefthander – and making the all-star team 17 times. Durable as he was talented, Spahn went 23-7 when he was 42 years old.

Nadia Comaneci: She won five Olympic gold medals and became the first gymnast to earn a perfect 10 (in the uneven bars). She defected from her native Romania in 1989 and moved to Oklahoma two years later.

She and her husband, Olympic gold-medal gymnast Bart Conner, live in Norman, Oklahoma.

Johnny Bench: The Oklahoma City native is often regarded as the greatest catcher of all-time. He starred as a member of Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in the 19970s, won 10 Gold Gloves, and was a 14-time All-star.

Oklahoma’s rich sports history is just one reason why the Sooners are a worthy addition to the SEC. Their football program is another reason.

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No one should expect the Sooners to be as dominant at the conference level in the SEC as they were in the Big Eight or Big 12. But you shouldn’t expect them to descend into mediocrity, either.

They Sooners have been too good for too long for that to happen.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Oklahoma’s rich sports history includes more than Sooners