RISON - When it comes to super fans of sports teams, it might be hard to find someone who can top Roger Cooper of Athens, Ohio.Cooper, a professor in the Scripps College of Communication Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University, is taking a sabbatical this fall semester so he can follow his favorite NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs, to every game they play this season.After the Chiefs held off the Atlanta Falcons to go 3-0 Sunday, Cooper spent Monday night in Cleveland County with his sister- and brother-in-law, Lynn and Jeff Wilson, of the Staves community. Cooper was married to his late wife, Pat Butcher Cooper of Rison, for 36 years before she passed away five years ago.The overnight stay with his in-laws was a way to break up the more than 2,100-mile trip to Los Angeles for the Chiefs’ next game against the Chargers.Cooper said he always imagined taking a season to follow his beloved Chiefs to every one of their games when he retired, but a trip to a sports conference last year in Spain changed all that. He attended a session on fandom, and he recalled thinking that he should go ahead with his plans now rather than wait until retirement.When he returned to Ohio, he approached the administration about taking the fall semester off to follow the Chiefs, and they agreed. In addition to teaching at the Athens, Ohio, campus, Cooper spends about six months a year in Los Angeles overseeing an internship program in media arts for the university. That program focuses on helping students get real “behind the camera” experience in the entertainment business. Cooper said most of his students are aspiring screen writers, producers and technical contributors in the industry.Even though he lives in Ohio, Cooper said he holds season tickets to all the Chiefs home games, and usually flies out to Kanasas City five or six times a year to use them. However, with this current season, he said he will be driving to many of the d...
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