The '78-79 season: OU played Bakersfield in Norman right before Christmas

[NMSooner'80]

That was a big OU win, something like 100-75. Bakersfield was a D-2 school back then. OU, of course, won the Big 8 and finished in the final 16 of the D-1 tournament and the final D-1 polls.

That game became famous among the OU students for being the "E" game. That's because the Roadrunners had an "everyman" player whose warmup top just read "E" on the back. His name was Ethan Aronie. I've never seen a visiting player become a temporary fan favorite.

OU's student section actually cheered when he went to the line late in the game when OU was way ahead on the scoreboard. When he missed his first shot, you'd have thought a terrible thing had occurred. He made his second shot, and the students went nuts with emphatic cheers. A minute or so later, his coach took him out, and the student section booed his replacement.

I sure do hope OU's current team doesn't give "E" anything to cheer about later in the week, unless it's for good sportsmanship in another OU blowout win.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

As always, thank you for sharing those memories from OU basketball history. Good stuff.

 

[skyvue]

I was there for the E game. It was very memorable (I've never forgotten his name) and quite fun. The crowd was razzing him early on (he was, if I may be forgiven for saying it, kind of gawky and goofy-looking and then there was that lone E on his jersey) but he won them over with his good-natured response to the razzing, and they were cheering wildly for him by the late minutes of the game.

Mr. Aronie seems to have done pretty well for himself in the business world.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanaronie

 

[Big Old Booger]

That's great, thanks for sharing the memory.

 

[NMSooner'80]

In the fall of '78, Elvin Hayes was still going fairly strong in the NBA. He was a great low-post scorer, who, whenever he got the ball down low, motivated his home fans into chanting, "E-E-E-E...." until he took the shot. That's what the OU students did when Aronie came out early to take some practice shots. He'd take a dribble, while the OU students started, "E-E-E-E...." until he shot it.

I was in a class with Al Beal during the semester that OU won the league title (and the tournament). He was still amazed at the whole "E" phenomenon that night.