Welcome to Friday, everyone, and I hope it finds your head much, much warmer than mine.

Go ahead and take a look at the second picture alongside this column. Yup, that's me. Bald, bald me. And no, it's not a tattoo.

In the face of media who have decided it's chic to doubt the Sooners, our football team pulled through with a hard-fought and well-deserved victory over Kansas State. The only unfortunate part of the situation is that it's this same media who gets to choose the winner of the Heisman Trophy, and this fad will probably roll through into their balloting.

There's one election that deserves a revote this year, folks, and I promise it's not the one where both candidates have four-letter names. Heupel hasn't received anywhere near the respect he deserves this year. He deserves the Heisman not only for his ability and mind, but his leadership and quality of character.

But, I digress. There's one thing more important than this that I want to talk about. I want everyone in the Athletic Department to listen up.

As you've probably noticed, my head's cold. Our Sooners accomplished what we knew they could accomplish, and I carried through on my promise. I shaved my head. But, I saved my braid. I now have an offer to make to the AD.

If someone from the Athletic Department gets in touch with me by Friday, Dec. 15, I will donate my braid to the Switzer Center. It can be used as a display of the sacrifices that both the football team and the student body as a whole have made in the quest to return OU to the state of greatness it deserves.

Should Heupel win the Heisman, I'd like for my braid to be displayed next to the little bronze man, with a plaque in front of the two stating something to the effect of, "The two things no one ever thought would happen."

Otherwise, I think my braid of hair would make a great symbol of the spirit of this student body. The Athletic Department could make great use of it in the Switzer Center as a display of the support the student body has for our athletes. Many people don't realize exactly how much money or publicity our athletics get for us. They help to capture the eyes of a nation, and the rest of the university then focuses those eyes on how great a campus this is.

Regardless of whether or not the AD accepts my offer, the football team and the student body both deserve rounds of congratulations for this season. The football team has made so many fans' dreams come true. So many dyed-in-the-wool Sooner fans like myself have waited a lifetime for a season like we've had this year. As for the student body, while we've been quiet at times in the stadium, the spirit and pride have been palpable on campus this year. This campus has bled red.

We've got a great university here. Several of our programs are internationally recognized for their greatness. Great people come here in droves, just to have the OU experience. Try not to be bogged down by the things going on around campus now that can discourage you. Keep in mind that everything that happens is just a process, and they usually turn out for the best. We've done an outstanding job of building OU up to the level it should be, and we can definitely take pride in that. Have a fun and restful break, and don't forget what a great university you'll come back to in the spring.

Asher Killian is a psychology and criminology sophomore. His column appears every Friday.
hello there & you too