Silver taps for the SWC

Sporting News, The, Dec 4, 1995 by Bob Hille

Come this Saturday, the Southwest Conference will cease to exist, as surely dead as Sam Houston and LBJ, Stephen E Austin and Janis Joplin. And any Texan worth his or her chicken-fried upbringing has to feel a twinge of sadness, though the handwriting's been on the wall a long time (like a booster's signature on a check payable to "student athlete"). It's sad comment enough that this once-proud conference will go out with a whimper -- Rice vs. Houston, for God's sake.

But in a sport of virulent regionalism, the SWC was an all-time great, a nine-school league, eight in one state, playing a game with all the subtlety of a Dr Pepper bottle upside the head.

Big Ten fans, savor your 11. Big Eight fans, embrace your new brethren. For just this moment, I beg your indulgence as I reminisce about a very dear old friend who's about to pass away. Let the epitaph read: 81 seasons and countless memories.

John Heisman: "You will never have great football played by the southwestern teams. The climate won't permit it." Botchey Koch (say, "Cook"). Ki Aldrich and Rags Matthews. The Bayou Bucket Jarrin' Jawn Kimbrough. Bear Bryant; Junction; "The Team of Tomorrow": John David Crow and Bobby Joe Conrad. Humble Oil ("the cleanest restrooms on the road") and the Southwest Conference Radio Network; Kern Tips: "It's time out on the field and time in ... for Alec Chesser." 1935 and '38. Dutch Meyer. Sammy Baugh and Little Davey O'Brien.

DX Bible: "Those who want to go out and be known as the members of an A&M team that defeated Texas in Austin, step across this line"; Texas A&M 14, Texas 7. Matty Bell. Doak Walker. "The Best Dressed Band in the Land." 1949: Notre Dame 27, SMU 20; "Kyle Rote climbed into the team bus afterward, and the bus moved forward two yards." Frank Ryan and King Hill. Jess Neely. Yell Practice at The Grove. Bobby Layne. Dicky Moegle/Maegle (and 'Bama's Tommy Lewis off the bench for the tackle). Muny Stadium. The flip-flop. Dave Campbell's "Texas Football."

Don Meredith. Jack Pardee. Forrest Gregg. Buddy Dial. Lance Alworth. Darell Royal, 167-47-5. Frank Broyles, 144-58-5. 1961: A flea-flicker, Sonny Gibbs to Larry Thomas to Gibbs to Buddy Iles; TCU 6, No. 1 Texas 0; Royal: "They're like cockroaches. It's not what they carry off, it's what they fall in and mess up that hurts you." 1963 and '64, 1969 and '70. Tommy (Hit 'Em in the Goozle) Nobis. Zeke the Horned Frog. Porky the Razorback. Zebediah the Bear. Bevo. Ol'Sarge. Peruna. Reveille. The Masked Rider on Charcoal Cody at full gallop. Feisty Pete Cawthon. J T King. Donny Anderson. The Saddle Tramps and the bell circle; go-fight-win. "Bangin' Bertha." Guns up. The Bear Claw. Hoss Brock. Chuck Hixson to Jerry Levias.

The 1964 Cotton Bowl: No. 1 Texas 28, No. 2 Navy 6. E.J. Holub. David Parks. Rodney Allison. Gabe Rivera. Jim Swink. Jim Pittman. Bob Lilly. "The Purple Wall." San Jacinto Boulevard. 1966: Texas Tech 26, Kansas 7 (susp., tornado). Al Conover. Stahle Vincent. Tommy Kramer. Earl Cooper. The MOB. The Corps. Humpin' it. The 12th Man: "When the Aggies score on the field, the Aggies score in the stands, too." Gene Stallings' "Texas Special": Harry Ledbetter to Jim Kauffman to Dude McLean; 91 yards. Edd Hargett and Bob Long. Mo Moorman. Dave Elmendorf. Charley and Rolf Krueger. Thanksgiving Day. The Aggie Bonfire. "The Eyes of Texas." Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck! Hook 'em Horns. Gig 'em Aggies.

The Big Shootout: "It had everything but a Ben Hur chariot race." No. 1 Texas 15, No. 2 Arkansas 14; Bill Montgomery to Chuck Dicus; James Street to Ran Peschel. Freddie Steinmark. Texas-O.U. weekend. Keith Moreland: "I have stood at home plate in the World Series and still have never felt anything like The Tunnel." Big Bertha and Smokey the Cannon. The Tower bathed in orange. "Texas Fight." Russell Erxleben, Tony Franklin and Steve Little; seven over 60. Wilson Whitley, defensive player of the '70s (after one season in the SWC). Emory Bellard: "I've always felt that people have a misconception that a running touchdown counts six poihts and a passing touchdown about nine." The wishbone. James Street, Eddie Phillips, Steve Worster and Roosevelt Leaks. Phillips to Cotton Speyrer. No. 20. Earl Carmpbell. 4,443 yards. The Next Earl Campbell: Terry Orr, Eric Metcalf, A.J. (Jam) Jones, John Walker and Butch Hadnot

Loyd Phillips. Joe Ferguson. Billy Ray Smith. Steve Atwater. The 1978 Orange Bowl: Roland Sales' 205 yards; Arkansas 31, Oklahoma 6. Bill Yeoman. The veer. 24.5 points per game. Danny Davis. 1979 Cotton Bowl: minus-6 windchill; Notre Dame 35, Houston 34. John Bridgers' "Scorpions with Wings." Grant Teaff on Mike Singletary: "He makes me so proud." John Westbrook. Thomas Everett. Bill Glass. "The Miracle on the Brazos."

Tony Degrate. Kenneth Sims. Jerry Sisemore. Cardiac Kevin Murray. R.C. Slocum. The Wrecking Crew. Byron (Bam) Morris. Zach and Bart Thomas. Trevor Cobb. Spike Dykes: "Where I come from, if somebody says hello to you, you don't just keep walking, you say, 'Hello, how ya doin'?' To me, that's just natural. That's just being a person." Mustang Mania. Eric Dickerson, Craig James and Lance McIlhenny. The Pony Express. Kenneth Davis. Jim Wacker: "Unbeleeevable." Bobby Collins. The Death Penalty. Jackie Sherrill. The run-and-shoot 1989: Houston 95, SMU 21; 771 passing yards, 1,021 total. David Klingler. 1992: SMU 41, Houston 16.