(NOTE: Please read this column with a smile. It’s all in good fun. Merry Christmas! – Joel)

“I got a lot of problems with you people, now, you’re gonna hear about it.”

In the classic sitcom, Seinfeld, George’s dad, Frank Constanza, invented a holiday called Festivus (which has real-life roots) on December 23 to combat the commercialism of Christmas.

There were the “Feats of Strength” and “The Airing of Grievances.” We’ll focus on the grievances for Festivus 2024.

PEOPLE WHO CAN’T SPELL BRONCHO

This one strikes a nerve because I’m a Bethany alum.

Bethany is one of three schools in Oklahoma that use the alternate spelling of Broncho (rather than the more common ‘Bronco,’ like Mustang or Denver). The University of Central Oklahoma (of which I am also an alum) and Central High in the Marlow area (known to most as Central Marlow) also use this spelling.

The alternate spelling was more common in the early 1900s.

As a high school athlete at Bethany, I saw Bronchos misspelled on a full order of baseball sweatshirts (which the screenprinter had to take back and redo the order) and other items (see the photo).

A recent example of this plague occured when Bethany faced Tuttle in the Class 4A state football semifinals on Dec. 6 at Yukon’s Miller Stadium.

The Millers were great hosts. They had a nice graphic on the video board above the scoreboard. They spelled it correct there.

However, it was spelled wrong above Bethany’s score on the scoreboard.

Seriously?!?

My contention is that Bethany is not a new school. They have become more high-profiles in recent years. The Bronchos boast seven state titles in this century and five in the last five years.

It’s time the rest of the state learns how to spell Bronchos for Bethany, UCO and Central High.

Random trivia, there are other schools that share this spelling.

Lafayette Jefferson in Indiana also rolls with the ‘Chos. I once saw an Indianapolis Star article that had Bronchos spelled correctly in the article and incorrectly in the headline.

D’oh.

PUTNAM WEST AND PUTNAM NORTH SANS ‘CITY’

The Oklahoman is the villain in this one.

For years, the state’s daily newspaper has insisted on referring to Putnam City West as Putnam West and Putnam City North as Putnam North. Never mind that there is a Putnam, Oklahoma (which doesn’t have a school) in northwest Oklahoma.

The names of the school include “City,” even though there is no actual city of Putnam City (see Warr Acres). However, that’s a discussion for another column.

When I worked at The Oklahoman in the late 1990s, it was a well-known rule that you never included ‘City’ when referring to the schools of the Patriots and Panthers, but you did with the Pirates of Putnam City (Otherwise, they’d just be ‘Putnam,” which would be really confusing to the 30 residents of the real Oklahoma town of Putnam).

This has led to others referring to the schools without the “City” part of their names.

Here’s another weird one. Up until recent years, it was The Oklahoman’s policy to not use a dateline of “WARR ACRES” in articles about sporting events held at Putnam City High School.

This policy was enacted even though Putnam City High School is located in Warr Acres and not in Oklahoma City.

WHICH PUTNAM CITY?

Another offshoot I hear now is out-of-town broadcasters refer to Putnam City North and Putnam City West as “Putnam City.”

One broadcaster even referred to the Patriots as the Pirates for 3/4 of a game.

Seriously, folks. We have the internet. It’s not hard to look up which Putnam City school you are playing.

PCO? NO.

Now, we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. But, I feel better after getting these issues off my chest.

I’m going against the grain here, but I can’t support the PCO movement for abbreviating Putnam City High School.

When I was playing little league, I mostly played for PCO as in Putnam City Optimist (across 50th street in Dolese Park). That’s why I can’t behind the PCO craze.

I think I’m going to lose this one because it seems to have taken hold.

A side note, I’m fine with saying “Original” and you see that from time to time in my articles.

There you go. Those are my grievances. Merry Christmas!