I used to have an old 89er ball cap that I would wear anywhere and everywhere, especially while I was studying at the University. The 89er's were a minor league baseball team here in Oklahoma and once upon a time their games were a cheap form of entertainment for many families living in the greater OKC area. Though they ceased to exist in the mid 90s, I still enjoyed wearing their memorabilia. I would get all sorts of reactions and could always tell who was a genuine Oklahoman based on the appreciation of the ball cap.
But I especially remember someone(not a native obviously) asking what 89er stood for? And since it was a wonderful opportunity to evangelize on the Oklahoman Way, I stepped up to the plate(pardon the pun) and began to explain.
I told the person that Oklahoma consisted of a large Western German population and upon the collapse of the Iron Curtain in Germany and the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 we named our baseball team the 89ers. The person accepted my explanation and went about their way. And maybe some day, when they are discussing useless facts, they will use this little story in their conversation.
The only problem is that this is not why the team was called the 89ers. The term 89er is derived from the Land Run in 1889 where the Government actually gave away free land to anyone who dared to race for it. A good film to understand more of that is "Far and Away".
Finally, I felt 89er would be a great way to say I'm Oklahoman without having to identify my blog with any one college mascot.
Now the name Catholic is hopefully a given. Catholic is greek for Universal and I am a member of the Universal Church. I firmly believe in everything Holy Mother Church teaches. As St. Ambrose of Milan said "Where there is Peter, so there is the Church, and so there is God". And so I am thankful for God keeping me close to the Church he founded on St. Peter in the Gospel of Mt. 16:18!
God Love You!
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