A Traveling Call on Harris

The Oklahoma Sooners were missing an important face when they resumed Rose Bowl preparations with a Thursday practice at Loyola Marymount University.

It was the team’s first full day in Southern California and All-American defensive tackle Tommie Harris was a no-show because of confusion over his travel arrangements.

The massive sophomore showed up for a Christmas Day flight to Los Angeles thinking he had a confirmed reservation. Airline employees thought different and sent him home.

Harris was expected to join the team in time for this morning’s session, so Coach Bob Stoops did not seem overly concerned about the slip-up.

“We’ve all been there,” he said. “It has happened to me three or four times.”

Practice was otherwise uneventful, a few fans in the bleachers and local high school coaches watching from the sideline.

Receiver Antwone Savage got his feet tangled with a defensive back and limped for a while, but continued to work out. The team was happy to be in the sunshine and ocean breezes after leaving 40-degree temperatures, snow and ice in Norman, Okla.

Stoops said his players had performed as expected after a few days off. He had them run 40 or so live plays, explaining that “scrimmaging always makes them play harder.”

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Tournament of Roses executives said the Sooner Schooner, the covered wagon that rumbles across the field before Oklahoma games, would be allowed on the Rose Bowl turf. There had been some concern that its wheels might damage the playing surface.

With that situation resolved, an Oklahoma official wondered if Boomer and Sooner, the matching white ponies that pull the wagon, would be ready for the 5.5-mile Rose Parade earlier in the day.

“The ponies have never walked that far,” a spokesman said. “They’re not very big.”

The schooner -- modeled after the Conestoga wagons that carried pioneers to Oklahoma -- will be adorned with flowers to satisfy parade regulations.

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Tustin High alumnus Chris Chester is one of only a few Californians on the Oklahoma roster.

Although the freshman tight end played sparingly this season, he caught a crucial touchdown pass on a fake field goal at Missouri. And when the team accepted a bid to come west, his teammates went to him for advice about Los Angeles.

“They only knew the stereotypes that you see in the movies,” Chester said. “They asked me to show them all the hot spots.”

Chester wasn’t quite as much help as they might have thought.

“I’m from Tustin,” he said. “That’s a little out of the way.”