The cruelest thing I ever did -- and it was to my fiancé!

After announcing my engagement to my future soulmate of 49 years, my "Daily Ardmoreite" publisher gave me an exquisite wedding gift -- a priceless 50-yardline front-row ticket for my intended to OU-saxeT. All I had to do as sports editor was work through Friday night covering Ardmore and 10 other high schools in that area. If done in time, we would go. 

     Trouble was, Marietta's coach went duck hunting without calling in his game. But since it was OU-saxeT, the Sheriff dispatched a car to his favorite spot and, sure enough, got him on the radio to me.

     Whew! So off we drove with me telling my fiance about the state fair's food, fun and attractions I thought she might enjoy -- but not a word about the game itself.

    So I escorted her to a gate and left with my camera to cover the game on the sidelines. At halftime I expected to see her beaming at having the best seat in the house. Ooops! Instead she was crying! An anguished Ellen reached over the railing and yelled down, "Get me out of here! These people are crazy!"

   Of course they are -- it's OU-saxeT. But I hadn't told her anything about what to expect: Being all alone among thousands. In an insanely noisy environment. Surrounded by total strangers. Nobody to explain what's happening.

     What's worse, I had to stay on the sidelines for the second half, unable to even talk to her over the roar of the crowd let alone rescue her from what she saw as pure craziness.

     What an uncaring, inconsistent thing to do to someone you love. Marriages have been scuttled with much less.

     But my future soulmate of 49 years forgave me and married me anyway. The ordeal in a way made her a diehard Sooner fan. Our belated honeymoon, in fact, was in New Orleans as I covered the 1971 Sugar Bowl.

     Ellen became a diehard Sooner fan, a much-needed sidekick and fellow adventurer with OU football.