Talked to an Okie State fan on Friday afternoon

My wife, daughter and I were headed for the game Friday so we stopped in Eugene so they could do some shopping.  I quietly sat on a bench inside the mall relaxing when a gentleman in an Oklahoma State Shirt sat down beside me.  I explained the females in my family were shopping for shoes and blouses and he chuckled because his wife and small children were looking at clothes also and they loved the no sales tax.  This couple was just wonderful people.  The wife explained their trip was planned for months.  They had never been to the west coast before, and she went on and on how beautiful our state was and how nice the people were.  The wife and kids went to get ice cream cones so I asked if they were going to the game.  They were, he is some kind of computer analyst from Tulsa.  We talked on several topics and it was wonderful to carry on a respectful conversation.  One of his hobbies is analyzing college football programs, he has a friend who also is an analyst as well.  Their specialty is analyzing college football turnarounds.  He said he did not know a lot about coach Smith but what he read he liked and said if he can stick to his plan we probably got a good one.  He went into quite a discussion on statistically how long turnarounds take.  He covered some stuff that went right over my head and I just nodded like I under stood.  He said the national average for a real turnaround was 5 to 7 years, not 2 to 4.  Also talked about fickle fans everywhere and nationally fans are not patient enough.  Great listening to him as at least from his point of view he had a handle on it.  He mentioned it can be a long trip even for storied programs such as Penn State, Michigan, USC Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Duke and several others I can't recall.  He did say the one program that is hard to explain is Tennessee.  Anyway I finally asked about that night's game and once again very gracious in his comments.  He apologized if he offended me it was not meant that way.  He said that the Aggies had one of Gundy's best offensive lines, maybe top 2 as they were returning senior starters.  He laughed and said on running plays we two could play quarterback behind that line.  Also said Gundy is an offensive guru and said most people do not know that over the last 10 years the aggies are the third best offensive team over that decade.  Now this is Friday afternoon mind you.  He said the Okie State would put up 45 to 60 points on us, no problem.  He also said that their offensive line would probably be one of the top 3 lines we will face all season.  He did say that he was concerned because the defense was inexperienced but had potential to be pretty good later in the season.  He felt we would put up 30 to 40 points on them.  Finally his wife and kids came back and I thanked him for the conversation and hope they enjoyed every bit of their vacation.  The wife said they hope to come back in 2 years.  About 20 minutes later my 2 gals showed up and we left for Corvallis.  Boy did he have insight into their team and I enjoyed every minute listening to his many comments.  He feels we have potential to surprise some people this year.