Edmond family has papal audience with Pope Francis

Nobody is ever going to accuse Cheryl Gumerson of Edmond of having a dull life. Her four children, and their successful activities, keep her busy. But she is involved in other endeavors as well. One of those was a recent papal audience in Rome with Pope Francis.

On April 21 she was given a papal audience with the spiritual head of over a billion Catholics worldwide. This was her second time to meet a pope. She had also met Pope Francis’s predecessor, the late-Pope Benedict. She was in Rome to sight see and visit two young Oklahoma men — studying for the priesthood.

She admitted the meeting with Pope Francis was a quick exchange. However, it was her granddaughter, Brielle, who seemed to bring a special joy to the face of the pontiff.

“He smiled and gave her a special blessing,” Cheryl said.

She added that it’s just now that

Brielle, six, is becoming aware of what an honor it was to have met the pope.

“She had said that it was the pope that met her, now I think she’s starting to know how truly special it is.”

May is becoming a busy month for the family, who attend Edmond’s Saint Monica’s Catholic parish. She has twin teenage sons, Kedon and Greiner, who will graduate this month from Mount Saint Mary Catholic High School in Oklahoma City.

STEVE GUST

By Steve Gust

Maybe it’s time for the metro to dream a bit.

I was watching some of the XFL football playoffs over the weekend.

Maybe Oklahoma should have a team if the XFL ever decides to expand the number of teams from its current eight. I understand they’ve already committed to a 2024 season.

In case you haven’t been following the XFL, the professional football league is about ready to end the first year of its third attempt to play football. It first started in 2001 and then stopped after one season of play. They tried again in 2020, but as we all remember, the league suspended in the middle of the season because of the pandemic.

It didn’t look like it was coming back until Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson helped to buy the league. They retooled it for this season.

And they appeared to have some success. The Saint Louis franchise averaged more than 30,000 fans at the home games. Two of the league’s eight teams are meeting in the championship on May 13. Bob Stoops is coaching one of the clubs, the Arlington Renegades.

All of this has me thinking about get- ting a team around here. Having an XFL team around these parts might not be a bad idea. But putting them at Owen Field in Norman, wouldn’t be a good idea. There’s not much chance the new team would play before a packed house and a vacant stadium is not a good look. A new team just isn’t going to draw 90,000 souls.

But that wouldn’t be the case if they played at UCO. We might need Chad Richison to help expand the stadium whichn also has his name on it. Maybe 5,000 or 10,000 more seats might do. You’d think Oklahoma could put 10,000 or 25,000 people in the stands.

If there was an appetite for professional football here, an XFL franchise, would be a good barometer.

If 80,000 or 90,000 folks showed up for five home games, the NFL might give the state consideration if they ever expanded. If not a new sport in Edmond would still be a boost for restaurants and other businesses.

Or the XFL could take off, and the team might be forced to move to Owen Field after all. We’d have national television exposure, which could be a plus.

A new team is a good idea. The chances of it happening probably aren’t real good, but it’s still a good idea.