Down with Horns down.

First, let me just say that I'm horribly disappointed that Vince Young, one of my all-time favorite Longhorns, was even IN a Dallas strip club over the weekend. Add to that that he HIT someone and was charged with assault? Completely unacceptable. After his big comeback season last year and his attempts to clear his name, all of this is just sad to see.

But when I found out WHY he hit the guy in that club, I had just the tiniest inkling of his ire. A bartender (from Oklahoma, by the way) flashed the "Horns down" sign, which got some sort of reaction from VY. Then words were exchanged, and in the silent video, we're left to our imaginations what those words entailed.

In my classroom I'm known for my unflappable nature. When I do get truly angry, my students know it's A Big Deal. But there's just something about seeing opposing fans pervert our beloved "Hook 'em Horns" sign that really chaps my hide. Especially when we're playing OU, it's crazy how EVERYONE (fans, players, band members, even coaches) will throw down the Horns down. It's as if that sign IS OU's sign since apparently the Sooners have no symbol of their own to display. Baylor has its bear claw, the Aggies have the thumb, the Raiders have their "guns up" (or "L for Lubbock," as we like to call it), and TCU has its horned frog made out of knuckles. But OU has to "borrow" our symbol. If you know why Sooners are called Sooners, it's not that big of a surprise that they purloined our Hook 'em.

The whole upside-down Longhorn motif is pervasive in Oklahoma. I got a good laugh out of the upside-down Longhorn head above the door at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill in OKC. And on our visits north of the Red River, I've lost count of the number of vehicles bearing our silver Longhorn car emblem upside down (and it tickles me to think that The University gets royalties for each one of those inverted Horns). I can deal with all of that, but for some reason, it really gets to me when folks make our hand sign upside down.

VY was wrong to hit the OU fan. Period. Who knows what was said in the club backroom to set him off, but as I said before, it doesn't matter. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Still, even my pacifist self knows that when someone flashes the "Horns down," logic and level-headedness can fly out the window.