OU football coach Bob Stoops: Hope it's 'Home of the Brave' and nothing else

With the Air Force Academy coming to town, Bob Stoops wasted no time in his weekly press conference weighing in on the issue of Oklahoma fans shouting "Home of the SOONERS!" at the end of the National Anthem.

photo - Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops speaks during his weekly news conference Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010, in Norman, Okla. Stoops said that he agreed with Oklahoma's administration that the national anthem should be sung correctly at Sooner football games. Some fans are ending the anthem with "home of the Sooners" instead of "home of the brave." (AP Photo/The Norman Transcript, Jerry Laizure)

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops speaks during his weekly news conference Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010, in Norman, Okla. Stoops said that he agreed with Oklahoma's administration that the national anthem should be sung correctly at Sooner football games. Some fans are ending the anthem with "home of the Sooners" instead of "home of the brave." (AP Photo/The Norman Transcript, Jerry Laizure)

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t “Sooners” replaced “brave” louder than ever with tens of thousands of fans.

Athletic director Joe Castiglione said OU will make another attempt to curb the tradition, though he declined to say what was planned.

Tuesday, Stoops recalled his team playing at Air Force in 2001. After OU's 44-3 victory, the Sooner players stopped their celebrating on the field and got quiet as the Air Force players and fans sang the school's fight song.

Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry “commented to me a little while after, he really appreciated the class that we represented Oklahoma with, the class our players played with, the respect we showed their team afterward,” Stoops said. “That meant a lot to me.”

Stoops said he hopes OU's fans will treat the Academy with similar respect on Saturday.

“Hopefully. ... with Air Force coming here, we'll be loud singing ‘Home of the Brave' and nothing else,” Stoops said. “I would sure hope that would be the case.”

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