Sooners were people that left early in the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889. Boomers were a group of citizens that had illegally entered Indian Territory earlier in the 80s in an effort to open it up for white settlement. (A special shout out to Rob M for the correction.) For some reason, my blessed alma mater chose the nickname Sooners for the name of the athletic teams. Some of our foes refer to us as LandThieves, since a Sooner is someone who cheated and got to the land before they were supposed to. For some reason, the tagline, "Sooners, cheating since 1889" has never caught on. At least we're not the Oklahoma Thunder or Wind.