Did You Miss Me?

Have been spending most of my efforts on the actual website and twitter lately.  2014 was a rough year in that you may have even noticed the SWCfootball.com website as dormant during football season last year.  Long story - but the space industry is tightening its belt and I was focused getting a project in the best position to hand off if necessary.  Fortunately, it did not happen!  I have been reconciling the 2014 page (as time permits) with all the notes I had saved.  It will eventually be complete for the sake of prosperity).  I have already completed the 2014 Uni Tracker.
 
More importantly, I have been heavily involved in the 2015 page - and what a year of college football it has been!  I have devoted my Saturdays to enjoying it and watching most games by former SWC teams.  The current page includes a 20 Year Look Back at the last official SWC football games.  Yes, it has been 20 years since the greatest football conference ever folded.  Almost to the bottom of the left column you will find game summaries and personal antidotes for each SWC matchup in 1995.  They are not all there yet, I am up to 11/9/95.  I did not start these until the Oct/Nov lull between SWC matchups this year.

 

As mentioned above, I have also been heavily tweeting on @SWCfootballNow trying to build followers on that account (it pales in comparison to my over 1200 follower space twitter account).  It has been a fun year and I have been a bit wordy on my mini blog posts in the middle column of the SWCfootball.com site so havenot needed to do any expanding on those entries here on the blog.  This blog page will focus more on special events, big uniform news, or interesting memorabilia finds related to the Southwest Conference that need more explanation on their back story.  Or I may start just publishing here when I make big updates to the site.  I may also add a few backdated posts here to cover the bea-u-ti-ful throwbacks we have had this year and the lack of crappy Texas Tech one-off unis this year (they finally listened).

Seriously - go here!  There is more than enough to entertain your nostalgic love of the Southwest Conference there for now.  I constantly add to all areas of the site.  FYI: there is also a complete uniform 101 for this year in the right column below the virtual standings - it is called "In the Wash".

SMU Blues

Looks like SMU will finally be back in blue on Oct 5th per this video. Blue has been see rarely since June Jones came on board and plenty of SMU fans have been singing the blues.

 The video specifically references 1983, even though they have worn blue jerseys recently in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002 and of course 2008 when June Jones came on and basically tanked the whole season in bright royal blue). That is not a complete list - I have big gaps in my SWC uni database for SMU that I have not populated yet.

So... will it be the more unique Yale blue of the Pony Express era? Maybe the darker blue that seemed to come along after the 1983 Cotton Bowl when the Bowl mistakenly ordered a darker shade? Or just that plain old more royal blue from those recent photos? Their current blue is likely the effect of Nike not often making "special" colors for teams - it's usually pretty much their way or the highway.   Those early 80s jerseys didn't have stripes. Since the video does say "present meets the past", I am guessing they won't wear stripes on the pants... bummer. Unless it is a throwback uni to honor Dickerson and the 1983 Cotton Bowl team who were 1982 Southwest Conference Champions. Oh crap, I hope Craig James isn't there... I have REALLY enjoyed him being SILENT!  It will be good to see SMU back in blue - hopefully they will win and June Jones won't toss the blue again! The consensus of the comments on several boards is that SMU fans want the blue and want the separated stripes on the helmets and pants back!

Nike and No SMU Whiteout

For four years in a row SMU has worn all white in the home opener which includes the fans for a whiteout. Tech was expected to wear black for a blackout. However, Nike didn't get SMU's white jerseys ready in time so SMU was forced to wear their red jerseys.

Come on, Nike.  Since SMU does the whiteout every year for the home opener, it's not like someone didn't know when the whites would be needed. 

No problem said SMU athletics - the red jerseys look great. Only problem is the fans were now dressed supporting the Red Raiders who wore all white and a new white helmet similar to the black version that was part of the uni reveal. Not too sure about the all white look... The hash tag war (#WreckEmTech vs #WreckTech) goes to Tech with their WALK-ON FRESHMAN possibly star QB and new coach as they dominated the game after both teams started slow.

Slingin' Sammy Baugh

At a recent card show ( my first in almost 20 years), I saw this 1949 beauty of TCU legend Sammy Baugh! I never knew these old Bowmans existed for football.  I love the printing on the 1949 Bowman cards. 

At TCU, he led the Horned Frogs to two Bowl Game victories: 1936 Sugar Bowl and the inaugural Cotton Bowl.  He was drafted in the first round (6th overall).  That one year contract made him the highest paid player on the team. In his rookie season, he led the Redskins to a win in the NFL Championship game.  In the NFL, not only was he the quarterback, he was an awesome defensive back, and maybe one of the best punters of all time. 

That example above is pristine and has exquisite color with no overprinting. I couldn't afford that one, so I found a more affordable card to buy - Texas Bobbie Layne (also a SWC legend). 

A recent post on Uni Watch, came up with a new photo of Sammy Baugh I had never seen nor had any idea about. First off, what a gorgeous photo - make sure you enlarge it and enjoy the details.  Second - I confess I don't think I knew he also played baseball.  As it turns out, he played baseball at TCU as well - AND THAT IS ACTUALLY WHERE HE GOT THE NICKNAME SLINGIN' SAMMY BAUGH! Not from football... Holy crap! 

Turns out after his rookie year in the NFL, he wasn't convinced football was his best sport.  He signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.  Unhappy with his little playing time in the minors (because he was converted to a shortstop and played behind Marty Marion), he went back to the NFL.

I also didn't know he coached the Houston Oilers in 1964...

The two sport "slinger" made the forward pass and integral part of the NFL.

Lots of good stats are here.

DKR Auction

So as expected, prices were a higher than expected at the auction since Darrell Royal died last week… ESPECIALLY on the cheaper items that were supposed to go between $100-200.  The expensive things like Texas and US flags flown to the moon stayed around the estimated bids (if not a tad lower).  But the little things - the opportunity to have something the legend owned.  And I can't ignore his 2005 National Championship ring - it did go for a shocking $105,000. 

It is interesting to see the unsigned items that went higher than you would think.  A book with a signature about $250 – but make it about the Longhorns and it went for $650, programs from games he coached even higher… A couple of odd desk items that were expected to go for 100-200 went for prices like $1700 or $2250!  If it had a longhorn, his initials, or was burnt orange – the price went up!  I would love to do a spreadsheet categorizing the items that went for so much more than expected.

Here is a short run-down of the things that were eyebrow raising!

Signed program from 1973 (100-200=$650)

Duh... it has a longhorn on it and was probably worn by Darrel Royal!!! (100-200=$1300)

Initialed Bottle Box - the box is sweet (100-200=$1700)

What I wanted – was thinking I could spend $200 on this since it was his… even though it was so faded! (100-200=$550) 

It's burnt orange, has a longhorn on it and they used it! (400-600=$950)

Holy Shit – my glasses aren’t worth this much... (100-200=$350)

Hello... wooden Hook'em with his name on it! (100-200=$2250)

Not signed, Edith's personal copy.... maybe she bought it back. (600-800=$1800)

Unsigned 1963 Program - although this was the auction catalog cover (100-200=$800)

Signed 1957 and 1958 Programs (100-200=$1300)

Signed 1949 Sugar Bowl Program - his last game playing fro Oklahoma (600-800=$2000)

Signed 1958 Sugar Bowl Program (300-500=$550)

Amazing Original Cartoon (400-600=$3500)

Texas Flag from Moon - very faded, he obviously had these in his office and ENJOYED them! Duke wrote about trying to make a Hook'em in the photo with his gloved hand. (15,000-25,000=$17,000)

The audio recording of the party with Charlie Duke and Willie talking about what it would be like to be on the moon. I so want to hear this – hope the buyer makes it public! (60-150=$425)

Apollo 12 moon flag - signed by Conrad, Gordon, and Bean (10,000-15,000=$15,000)

Apollo 8 Moon Flag - signed by Borman, Lovell, and Anders. What a steal! (10,000-15,000=$6500)

Autographed pages by several SWC greats intended to be in first 250 books of a book that never got printed - neat lot! (100-200=$275)

What the Hell?  Other rings only went for $15,000 or so.  Oh, 2005 National Championship Ring... it's not a typo! (1000-5000=$105,000)

Brick from 2006 DKR Stadium Renovation (100-200=$750)

Texas Football Magazine also signed by James Street (150-250=$700)

The auction website - browse through - it's fun!
Neat article about Auction - with photos.

Fitting Tribute for Darrell Royal

We lost a legend on November 8th.   It was a A sad, sad day for me, longhorn fans, SWC fans, and football aficionados across the country. Even Aggies expressed some love! The UT tower was lit solid orange Wednesday night in his honor.  I know my dad is having some lively conversation with him right now!

Here is the DKR decal Texas Football went with for the helmet (posted by @MBTexasFootball). I was indeed hoping for something other than a black circle with DKR in it. I was wishing for something more original - like a little wishbone with DKR inside.

But, how fitting is this!?! I would have to say, they nailed it!

He changed football forever with the wishbone, but Darrell Royal "created" the iconic helmet longhorn (see here for details from a previous blog of mine) that is still unchanged to this day! Bravo!

Hook'em! \m/

Aggies in Black

Are you effing kidding me?  Texas A&M rolled out of the locker room last weekend wearing all black. Oh excuse me, the helmet was black fade to maroon.  Okay, black doesn't even fade to maroon. Stupid.  Glad I was doing an art show and did not have to watch this travesty.

Only one word can describe this - sacrilege!  Hey - I like black unis, Red Raiders look spectacular in all black - BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THEIR SCHOOL COLORS!  BFBS (black for black sake in uni-watch ease) is out of control.  With the exception of the blue field, you can't tell who any of these teams are in the photo above with a quick glance.

But enough of that - let's talk about the helmet.  I love the Texas outline idea - but how poorly done could this be?  The logo is so big you lose the southern tip of Texas. The reversed side is better.  The holes in certain helmets also lose part OF THE SCHOOL NAME.  You can tell by the bad photograph that HGI took, they don't even care what it looks like.  Graphic design is about design.  Not letting some intern slap some oversized crap on there - anywhere on there.  Make the logo smaller, lay it out so it is ACTUALLY readable, and it would have looked a heck of a lot better - except of course, for the black...

2012 Uni Smackdown

Most changes to the unis for 2012 are completely overshadowed by the stellar Aggie unis unveiled this year.  But here is the run-down.

U of Beveled H: Lots of jicky lines and odd shaped leg panels, blame Nike for that. Not sure about the Hot Wheels shine treatment on the helmet, and of course I hate the new beveled logo. Saving factor is the Robertson Stadium patch.

Rice and Adidas: Not much difference, but definitely not as good. School name is smaller and the stacked Adidas logo looks horrible. Does not appear to be the right color of blue either. And I am still missing the stripes on the pants!

SMU new striping: Someone claims that new unis do not facilitate UCLA stripes (but I beg to differ #QuitMakingExcusesNike). Aside from that, bonehead move to dump the name of your school... little horses belong on pants! Maybe they were trying desperately to outnumber the Nike logos... Speaking of pants... where exactly have all the stripes gone?

Arkansas Barf Fest: Just effing horrible! The full set is a non-traditional yawn fest.

Aggies ode to the 70s: as mentioned in my earlier blog entry, I really like it! Except for the matte helmet finish... and the maroon is honestly, the wrong color

New Unis for Ags Honor 75-77

There has been a huge development on the uni-front at Texas A&M.  So massive, I wish dad were here to discuss it with me!  So contradicting, yet so wonderful!   

So, NOW you want to honor your traditions...

I have sat back and watched Texas A&M toss tradition after tradition aside since I left the school - it even has a different greedy, money-grubbing feel to it now. It's the NOT the same place I fell in love with and shocked my Longhorn fan dad when I told him I would be headed to College Station. First slap in the face, The Zone and its rich suites blocking the dead mascots' view of the scoreboard. But the most flagrant slaps - ending the longest tradition of all - the rivalry between Texas and Texas A&M. And with that a move to a money-grubbing conference that will only exploit their Texas connection.

So in the shadow of trashing traditions, they decide to honor one of the most unique football unis in the history of college football (dad absolutely hated them!). The new unis (still Adidas) have the double shoulder stripe of those historic unis from the mid to late 70s. It also utilizes the striped undersleeve born by Uni-Watch readers - although, I suspect there will be some serious alignment issues between jersey and undershirt. Glad to see a stripe on the pants - but I will always be a fan of multiple stripes. I don't even mind the gray bevel highlight... That is the direction they want to go with the aTm logo (see previous post) - I hope they dump that idea! Now, this was a techFit reveal, so I don't want to get my hopes up that the new helmet WON'T have that stupid bevel logo.

All in all, the ONLY REAL problem with this uni is that crappy SEC logo on it!

UH Newly Chiseled into The Past...

The discussion at Uni Watch today was the poorly executed beveling of the Texas A&M and new UH logos. The beveling of logos SHOULD be a moot point - it's dated AT BEST! But news regarding the Aggie star T logo supporting the story was even more disturbing.

I love the star T logo and was greatly saddened to find out they are trying to limit it. It screams old school Texas A&M (even though it is a newer logo). And somehow, it screams the Corps. I constantly search for products with that logo on it! It shows A&M's uniqueness. But seemingly, the echoed sentiment here is that A&M no longer wants to be unique. They have lost so many of their traditions to fit into the big bad SEC - they have sold their soul to the company store. The only recognition they seem to want now is "Look SEC, we are your TEXAS connection!". Yea, like I said - they sold their soul to the company store. As an alum I am increasingly disgusted by the direction the Aggie administration continues to go in. I have all, but disowned them...

Back to the bevel - Dear Texas Tech, I HATE HATE HATE the beveled double T! Hated it from the day it landed at Texas Tech - never looked new, just clunky. There are so many better looking logos out there. Really! And if you want to do ONE THING to make our football helmets look good again - dump the bevel! Of course repairing it completely would be to add the stripes back and give it a red face mask!

Fitting UH is just now updating their logo with an outdated style, Cougar High...sigh.

Living, Breathing Shasta!

Okay - the cougar cub is real cute... I mean REAL CUTE! But this is the lamest thing ever. UofH used to have a live cougar mascot. So in trying to bring that back they "partnered" with the zoo and will have LIVE SCREEN SHOTS of this new "Shasta" at sporting events... huh?

Quoted in the article: "For the last 20 years or so, UH alumni have been looking forward to the day when we could have a live cougar to identify with as one of our own and this great new partnership with the Houston Zoo is a perfect fit,” said Michael Pede, president of the University of Houston Alumni Association".

Yea... some how I don't think this is what Cougar High alumni were wishing for... one LOCKED UP in the zoo.

Where's the Damn Bucket?

No really, State Farm - where's the damn bucket? Yea, yea... it's at U of H. Houston won it back in alarming fashion (and a similar score to the last time they were ranked in 2009).

But what I have major beef with is the logo. I give you kudos for the "presented by" and not trying to rename the game the State Farm Bayou Bucket. And I love the color scheme... but WHERE'S THE BUCKET?

All you had to do was add a gray background bucket - I took the liberty to do it for you! If I had the State farm font, I would "gif" it too.

Anyone have a contact at State Farm I can call about fixing their logo?

Welcome back, Froggies!

Personally, I don't get it... if A&M thinks they are not respected enough, how in the world do they think they will get more attention in the SEC?  Newsflash - SEC is only using you to get Texas recruits...  So, the getting more respect theory is a load of crap.  It's all about the money and the really bad path A&M Athletic officials continue to lead the Aggies down.  First you build a monstrosity to block the view of our beloved Reveilles (and trust me, the freshman seating has a better view!).  Then you demolish every rivalry... even the one your fight song is written about.  Will Bill Byrne rewrite the fight song too?  Where are the old school Ags - how is this being allowed to happen? 

TCU has been in a weak conference and played hardly anybody (but has wins against notable teams)... and they are ranked in the top ten at the end of each season.  A&M is still on one year, off the next... poor Aggies. Clearly, the Big XII got the better deal!  Just compare their post-SWC Bowl Game records and final rankings!

Since the end of the SWC, the Aggies have posted four top 25 final rankings.  TCU has posted eight - four of which are top 10 final rankings!  Bowl game wins also shine on TCU - Aggies are 1-9 since the SWC disbanded and  TCU is 8-4 (and two of those were BCS Bowls)!  Last year TCU went undefeated!  Since 2005, TCU has the best record of all FBS teams in Texas.

Now let's look at all-time win percentages against the SEC and their new conferences:

A&M against SEC        TCU against Big XII
58-79-6 (31%)             157-223-24 (39%)

                                     TCU against SEC
                                     33-64-4 (33%)

So, cry baby Aggies - or I want a National Championship TCU?

Conference Family Portraits

I wrote the feature story over on Uni Watch today.  Back in January I had scanned in all the Conference Family Portraits for the same website - a favorite of mine - focuses on the aesthetics of athletic unis and the minutia associated with the obsession.

Dad had purchased these postcards in 1969 and I had grown up with them - staring at them for hours.  Over the years I have found the playing cards too (they have the SWC family portrait and Up for Grabs on the two decks).  After chatting with Phil at Uni Watch I realized the originals were paintings signed by Don Collins.  I decided to see if I could find anything about the artist.  I found a bunch of neat info on him which lead to this story.

Well now that I knew where he was, I wanted more!  I put in a call to him on a Friday and he called me back Monday once he got back to his studio.  We had a fantastic conversation on the phone, me asking tons of questions about how and why the posters were made - all the while wishing I could call Dad and tell him the history.

No, it didn't take me ten months to write the story, just ten months to sit down to write it.  Enjoy the history of these little gems of days gone by!

Battle for the Iron Skillet

To avoid mutilation of school property, the SMU student Council proposed a trophy along the lines of the Little Brown Jug. That was October of 1946. After about seven weeks, an aluminum skillet (seems an iron one would have been way easier to find) was purchased. As reported in the Nov 30th Dallas Morning News, the Battle for the Iron Skillet was born.

The inscription on that skillet read “Presented in token of southwestern friendship to the winner of annual TCU-SMU football game. Student tradition sponsored jointly by student governments of the universities.” Decades went by and interest in the skillet began to wane until it just went missing.

A new Lodge cast iron skillet was purchased in 1993. The new inscription reads:

“The Battle for the Iron Skillet
SMU vs. TCU
A Tradition since 1915” 1915?

Not the skillet, but the rivalry! And if you look at this photo, it clearly now says "THE SKILLET". So maybe a third skillet (or at least new plaque). Looks like I need to go dig through some yearbooks...

But why a skillet? No one knows for sure. It is rumored in the 50s some SMU students were cooking frog legs before a game and a TCU student took offense and suggested whoever wins gets the skillet. Seems a little weak to me... plus the timeline doesn't fit.

Source Articles:
TCU Magazine
SMU News Archives

An older photo in this Skiff article

Helmet Bevo turns 50!

Fifty years ago this week, Darrell Royal put the infamous Longhorn silhouette logo on the football helmets! He asked a local sporting goods merchant to draw something up. Upon Rooster's reveal of his design (rendered in crayon), Darrell put it on the helmet for the Cal game. That was September 23, 1961! The article tracks the earliest emergence of the longhorn around the university - main contributor being booster H.J Lutcher Stark who first added a steer to sideline player blankets (and a host of other influences detailed in the story).

They got one thing wrong, though. First appearance of those little iconic cartoon Bevos I can attribute to 1956 - which is earlier than the 1960 media guide sporting the familiar pair of characters.  I have them in a 1956 Texas football program (and not in 1955 programs). Would love to know who drew him up!  Note that this pair from the 50s is very similar to the one above in my blog banner from the 70s.  The super angry one in the right of my blog banner adorns a SWC/National Champions windbreaker I have from 1969. Just to give you a dating of the different versions... which were all used at various times throughout those decades (and certainly on cool throwback SWC tees).

Also love how Royal did not want to "candy up" the unis by adding stripes.  The ONLY uni to this day I accept emphatically WITHOUT striped pants (because, as I have stated time and time again - football pants need stripes)!

Full article can be found here - and the link has also been added to my SWC football site the left column under traditions.

Earl Campbell Carries Rice Player into Endzone Revisited

Doing a completely unrelated search today, I found this neat article on ESPN's Page 2 about the 1977 video of Earl Campbell carrying Rice's Strong Safety Michael Downs into the Endzone. I was amused that the author located the involved players to discuss their thoughts on the memorable play.

To the right of the article was a little sidebar about how hard it was to figure out who was in the video. I was thinking, oh shoot - my dad would have known instantly! Wait..... this is sounding a little familiar. Then I see MY NAME as a critical resource and remember we had this discussion on Uni Watch quite some time ago. How cool is that?

Turns out the author asked for Uni Watch's assistance and (with the help of dad) we concluded who got the free ride! Although we had concluded it was Michael Downs by the end of the thread, the author had to give some credit to the UT historian that confirmed it! ;)

Check out "The Story Behind the Story" on the right side of the article!

The research started by dad's "all knowing of all things SWC", lots of legwork by me, and finished by dad and his SWC Record Books... which are now mine! Check out comments 101, 155, 186, 193, 195, 197, 212, 216, 226, 238, 242, 243, 245, 247, 248 at Uni Watch for the full process!

Classic SWC Matchup Today

I can only imagine the cartoon DIrk West would have come up with for today's game regarding last year's upset.

Love all the replays on College Game Day of last year's upset! No surprise with Corso's donning of the Bevo Mascot head. Actually I prefer, as a Red Raider, to be the underdog. Bad things happen when we are favored! Thought the signs were rather weak though... even the best one about not freestyling Texas Fight failed by omitting "big boy." Weeeeeeak...

We don't freestyle Texas Fight, big boy!



More Cartoons from Dirk West - each one with a very cool set up for the week. The LAJ has moved them to the Lubbock Centennial page - which is a very cool page, by the way.

The Power and The GloryHarold V. Ratliff

What is it with this book that it is so expensive? Published in 1957 by the Texas Tech Press, Harold Ratliff was a veteran Texas sports writer. But, I have never seen a copy with its dust jacket for less than $100. A signed copy I saw once at the Half Price Books in Dallas was either $150 or $300 - I was so stunned, I just purged it from mind. The next time I went, it was gone!

And how in the world can this book be so wonderful when my dad did not have it...? He had every book written about the SWC! Guess it might have been a tad early for him - even though he did travel to his first UT game by train from Houston alone with his best friend at the age of eight (1949).

Reported to have one at the Houston Public Library, I may go try to find it before I put down half a Franklin for a non-dust jacketed copy. Published in 1957 I need to make sure I want it. My interest of the SWC is more 60s and 70s.

Oregon of the Big 12

Baylor's unis WERE perfect...

Old school - up the middle, up the middle to the left, up the middle to the right... Okay, so their offense style has changed a bit - but it's not like Tech who have an entirely modern game and completely fill those Under Armour shoes. While those "Old Baylor Line" stripes are gone from the pants, at least Nike did not remove them from the helmet. Not to be outdone though - in the wake of those awful green helmets in 2005-2007 which were actually called "Oregon Green" we now have white helmets... Wait, what???

Let's be clear... Baylor wears gold in case you didn't know! They even f*cked up the mascot... :/ Thank you Nike, you suck!