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)

Turn Back The Clock-More Cheesy Music

I had posted this briefly last week, but took it down, because I was unable to embed the Youtube video into the blog.

ABC carried NBA games up until 1974. There is a clip of their opening from 1973, with B.J. Thomas (or someone that sounds like him) singing this cheesy theme song, ending in "Timeout for the NBA Game Of The Week", with video of such NBA greats as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (with Milwaukee), Wilt Chamberlain, and Jerry West.

The owner of the video does not allow embedding, but he still has the video posted on YouTube. It is cheesier than a Kraft dinner.

NBA Game of the Week

He has other great video posted there, as well.

Good stuff...

Turning Back The Clock Again

More classic video from the folks at CBS and YouTube...

This is the opening of Game 5 of the 1976 NBA World Championship Series, between the Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns. The Celtics were heavy favorites, but had lost two games in Phoenix, and were tied 2-2 with the upstart Suns. This game is regarded by many as the greatest game in the history of the league, with the Celtics winning in triple overtime. The Celtics then went out to Phoenix and closed out the Suns in Game 6.

Some things to notice:

1) Young Brent Musburger.
2) Rick Barry. Now better known as Jon and Brent's dad, he was a great player in his own right. On this night, however, he appears on CBS with a toupee, and with this baby blue leisure suit, unbuttoned, with a huge cross hanging around his neck. Classic.
3) CBS had an ex-ref doing commentary, in Mendy Rudolph. Imagine if ABC/ESPN hired say, Joey Crawford, to do commentary.
4) The red checked jackets Mendy Rudolph and Sonny Hill are wearing on camera. Nice.

Not on this clip: the sixth man for the Celtics, none other than Don Nelson.

Good stuff.

Turn Back the Clock

From the archives of CBS, ESPN Classic, and YouTube...

This is the intro to Game 7 of the 1975 Western Conference Finals, between the Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors. This is a long time before hip-hop and the NBA became intertwined with each other. Heck, this is even slightly before disco. Some things to notice:

1) The cheesy opening intro music, complete with lyrics and 70's-style silhouette animation. "You'll see the best in basketball, when you watch the NBA..when you watch the NBA on CBS.."
2) A young Brent Musburger, when he was becoming the voice of EVERYTHING for CBS. He was better then, before his ego got in the way. He's now been with ABC/ESPN longer than he was with CBS, but ESPN has cheapened him by placing him on those spare Tuesday night Big Ten games, among other things. He is, however, filling the shoes of the once-great Keith Jackson on college football, and is the subject of a drinking game.
3) The Bulls in the Western Conference? Yes, they were. The Bulls and Milwaukee were in the Western Conference until 1980, when the Dallas Mavericks came into the league. When the Mavs came into the NBA, Houston and San Antonio moved to the West with them, and the Bulls and Bucks went east.

This video clip is really good stuff. By the way, the Warriors went on to win this game, then won the championship in the next round by sweeping the Washington Bullets, four games to none.

Back In Time With Da Bears

This morning, I heard the wildest thing as I was in our local Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. The Bears’ anthem from their 1985 championship season, The Super Bowl Shuffle, was playing on the sound system. I don’t know if the music is controlled in the store, or if there is a Wal-Mart Satellite Radio Mission Control at the compound in Arkansas, but it was a hoot to hear that. We’re a long way from Chicago.

Two words of caution: 1) This is a nearly six-minute video; and 2) The white guys can't dance a lick.

Enjoy this classic 80’s music video....