Good Commentary, Or A Bunch Of B.S.?

The great Barry Switzer is the official retired football coach of this blog. Known in Oklahoma as The King, Switzer won three national championships as coach of the Sooners, then came out of retirement to win a Super Bowl as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

Barry has signed a couple of media deals for this football season. He will appear on the tube with Jimmy Johnson on the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show. The two ex-coaches will review both college and pro football games and events, as Fox expands its role as the home of the Bowl Championship Series. Barry has also signed a deal to provide analysis for XM Satellite Radio. He will comment on college football daily on their sports talk channel.

Barry Switzer is a colorful individual. He has made many personal mistakes in the past. However, he is a knowledgeable football commentator, and is entertaining, to boot. His weekly radio appearances with the Hardline on the Ticket in Dallas are the stuff of legend, and even turned some public opinion in his favor as a result. He is never at a lack for words or for stories.

The Taco Bowl

In the good old days of the Big 8 Conference, Oklahoma and Nebraska normally met yearly at the end of the season for the conference championship, and a trip to the Orange Bowl in Miami. 1980 was no exception. The two teams met in Lincoln, Nebraska, with the winner going to the Orange Bowl. The Sun Bowl in El Paso cut a deal with the two teams to take the loser.

Nebraska athletic director and ex-football coach Bob Devaney taped a weekly television show on Friday nights at a Lincoln TV station. He was taping the show at the same time that OU coach Barry Switzer was doing a live interview at the station for the 10:00 news on Channel 4 in Oklahoma City. Devaney had a pineapple on stage, as a consolation prize for Switzer and his imminent trip to El Paso. Switzer decided to play a trick. He sent someone to a nearby Mexican restaurant to pick up a sack of tacos. While Devaney was taping his show, Switzer walked onto the set, handed him the sack of tacos, and wished him well on his upcoming trip to El Paso.

The Sooners won the next day, earning a Big 8 championship and a trip to Miami. The Huskers got to spend the holidays in the west Texas town of El Paso.

This was great stuff when I watched it on the 10:00 news with my parents 27 years ago, and it's good stuff now. Enjoy...

(special thanks to Jim's Oklahoma Sports Page, and YouTube)