As the first half of the season draws to a close, the Zephyr looked to snap a three-game skid without its star forward Ally Cook - who leads the team in goals scored (four) - in a road match against Brooklyn FC at Maimonides Park Saturday - a team that lost 11 straight games, but has clinched all three of its wins at home.
The stands inside Boone Pickens Stadium are brimming with the usual unusual characters. Naturally, the fans in Section 2 NO-SHIRTY 1 are already shirtless. The most popular bananas on campus are here, too. The Kool-Aid Man, of course, is sitting just a few rows over. This is the scene 40 minutes before Oklahoma State's Week 12 visit from Kansas State. Amid the most forlorn season in the Cowboys' modern football history, the Stillwater faithful is coping as best it can this fall, uncovering new methods to mine slivers of joy out of its football misery.
"On Monday, everyone was sad because we lost to Man United at home," Van Dijk told reporters. "We haven't lost many games at home during my time at Liverpool and it was tough under the circumstances. "So on Monday we came together, but it wasn't a crisis meeting. We all know how things can change. We're only in October. "Obviously we also had a proper debrief with the manager, but we had a separate one as players. "I wanted to say some things. It wasn't a crisis meeting. It's not something I do after every game. Let's keep it that way!"