Tell us a story about a famous Sooner or other sports figure.....

[K2C Sooner]

You have had encountered. Here's a few of mine. Plaino should have a ball on this one...........

I'll start out slow...

Played golf with Steve Owens at a Reasors Grocery tournament.

Had the great Jerry Arnold, 1975 or 4 All Big 12 OL called on my grocery store as a P@G rep after his career ended. He sold me the first case of Cascade Automatic dishwasher detergent.

Terry Bradshaw...Met him in the Hawaii at a bar. He asked if I wanted an autograph and I told him no.

Barry Switzer...Signed his book at the Tulsa State Fair and asked me if I could play Linebacker. He was a riot.

Tinker Owens...gave me his seats to the 50 yard line RRR I think in 1984.

Waymon Tisdale...He loved my daughter. She stayed with my mother-in-law who worked for a weight Doctor in east Tulsa. Small practice that Waymon visited to get weight shots. Many pictures of him holding my child.

Last but not least will not be popular.....

I met Dick Vitale and his family at the Marriot hotel overlooking Daytona Beach, Florida. I had an OU shirt on and he went into a diatribe about how OU was up and coming Da Da Da etc. I saw his wife's eye's roll and changed the subject. Vacation and all..

Well it ended up that my daughter played on the beach with Dick's and he and I talked about everything except sports. Mostly about my sexy body.............JJ

We had dinner with them. I can tell you he never had that whinny voice in person that he has on TV. A great family.....






.

 

[Soonersincefitty]

I've got nothing that extensive, well this.
I kind of pissed off Jimbo Elrod one night at a club when I innocently and gallantly bought his gal a drink. I didn't realize she was with him.
She was smoking hot of course. My bad.

 

[soonerinkeywest]

Was about 13, when I Met Franco Harris in Tulsa at a Pro bicycle meet. He owned Pittsburgh's team. The P.A. announced he was in the crowd, I looked around and Saw a big dude in a Hawaiian shirt 2 seconds later.I got 3 autographs from him that accidentally found their way into the trash while I was away in the Navy. ugh...

 

[opk]

My first year at OU, I had a Spanish class with Eddie Crowder. He was a pleasant guy and he always said "hello" when we passed each other on campus. I remember on time, headed into Kauffman for a class, I said "Hi, Eddie", and he said "Hi, Jim".

My name is Frank.

 

[sybarite]

Having been a tutor for many of the football team in the seventies, I was familiar with a number of national title players. But, the most interesting meeting that I had was in a different context.

When I was a freshman or sophomore, I got a call from the Dean's office informing me that I had been appointed to a committee to select a replacement for a Student Senator who had resigned. We were to interview candidates who had applied for the opening as a Senator. There were three of us doing the interview. It turned out that two had made their selection prior to the meetings with their selection being someone approved by the Panhellenic Council. Frankly, I didn't like that candidate when he actually did interview.

But, I was very impressed by a very attractive and intelligent young lady from Memphis. Being a Cardinal fan, I had actually heard of her. I just didn't know that she was interviewing, and I had no idea what she looked like. But, she had the most intelligence of any of the applicants. She was the fiancee of Tim McCarver, the young catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals at the time, Ann McDaniel. I voted for her. I lost to the Greek's pre-selected candidate. Lovely and intelligent girl. She and McCarver were married for a number of years prior to her divorce.

 

[PSK2080]

I haven't had many...

1. During last year's home opener I was sitting next to a guy in some seats that belong to a friend of mine...I talked with him almost the entire first quarter about the offense and how Trevor Knight wasn't really reading anything on the read option...he agreed and he complained about the playcalling...then he talked about his nephew Sterling and how proud he was of him...I was talking with former OU quarterback Darrell Shepard...after I got past being awestruck, we continued to chat throughout the game...he is a great guy.

2. About 10 years ago, when my son was still playing peewee football in Owasso, I saw RW McQuarters in Walmart. This was when RW was about to play for Detroit. I asked my son if he knew who RW was. He said no, so I told him to walk up to the guy with the long braids and ask him if he was RW McQuarters. When he asked him, RW swung around and said enthusiastically "Yes I am" and began to shake my little guy's hand and talked with him for close to 10 minutes. He seemed to be a genuinely great guy and seemed genuinely interested in knowing what position my son played, who he played for, etc.

3. A friend of mine from college was a high school buddy of Tommy Morrison. At the height of Tommy's career (just before or just after the Michael Bent fight), a group of us went to a bar in Tulsa and Tommy was there. We were all introduced to Tommy by our friend. Tommy was the biggest prick I've ever met. He dismissed us all like we were way beneath him. Up until then I had cheered for Tommy and paid for his pay-per-view fights. After that, I wished nothing good for the guy. And after that, not much good did happen for him. Karma.

 

[Medic007]

Does it have to be sports related? Not to be that guy, but the famous sports folks are pretty low on the rungs in my experiences.

 

[Soonersincefitty]

Oh, Medic you're that guy...

Bon mots aside.

Go ahead and regale us with when you got C. Everett Koops autograph...
If you must.

 

[Oklabama]

I have previously shared my experiences with Steve and Tinker Owens as well as Ed Foster, which were business clients of mine so I won't bore you with the same old stories. Robert (Bob) Kalsu and San Toi Debose were classmates of mine. Robert at Kerr Junior High and San Toi all through high school at Star Spencer. But I also had the opportunity to meet two great Oklahoma sports legends that played professional baseball.

Bobby Mercer was a year ahead of me during high school when we played in the old Capitol Conference in Oklahoma City. Bobby was a great athlete at Southeast HS. He was an All State halfback and lead the state in scoring his senior year, which would have been the 1963 season. He also played basketball and lead the city in scoring. Of course, we also played Bobby and lost to Bobby in baseball during my sophomore and junior years. I think we beat Bobby in basketball one or two times but never in football or baseball. Southeast was really good back then. Bobby's cousin went to school with me, so I got to know Bobby a little bit, but not too much. Back in those days, high schoolers didn't hang with kids from other schools, and if it weren't for my friendship with his cousin, Bobby Mercer would have never said a word to me except for "nice game" after beating us. But later after high school and when Bobby was playing with the Yankees, which was my favorite team, I ran into him again when he was back home after the baseball season. This had to be about 1968. I didn't want to go up to him and bother him with "Hey, Bobby, remember me. I'm a friend of your cousin". But he surprised me and stopped me and said, " We know each other, right". We had a brief talk and I never saw him again except on TV. But he was a genuinely nice guy and I remember how he had lost his Okie accent and sounded so Yankee. LOL. When he became ill, I found myself bothered more than I would have imagined.

In 1973, I was training in Chicago for two weeks and was staying at the old Executive House Hotel downtown on Wacker Dr. At that time the Executive House was the away hotel in Chicago for every major league baseball team except Montreal. So during my stay, the Reds were in town to play the Cubs. It was typical for the team bus to park in front of the hotel and wait for the players to come out sign a few autographs and jump of the bus, but most of the guys would hang in the hotel lobby and mull around talking with reporters and each other 20 or 30 minutes before going outside to get on the bus. The Reds had a former Houston Astro playing for them that season by the name of Dennis Menke. Menke was a close friend of by bosses son, Balor Moore, who was a pitcher from the Houston area and a first draft choice for Montreal in 1970 or 1971. Balor was a bust, but is a successful businessman in Houston today. Knowing Menke was good friends with Balor, I approached him and introduced myself. He asked me where I was from and I told him I was from Oklahoma City. About that time, Johnny Bench walk by and Menke said, "Hey, Johnny, this guy is from Oklahoma." Bench never looked at my face, he just kept his eyes above my head scouting out the young girls in the lobby and said "Huh." Then walked away. Menke apologized for him as he was clearly embarrassed. I told him it didn't matter, but it did. Bench was a jerk. He would hang in the lobby and jump on the bus everyday just before it left for the game. I never saw him sign one autograph outside the hotel, but Pete Rose was out there everyday for at least 15 minutes signing his name for the fans. That's what I remember about Bench and Rose.

 

[trademarcs]

I got.....nothing.

 

[Soonersincefitty]

I do have my Barry stories that I've posted before.
The two times at Tulsa airport when I worked for Braniff.
Then when I bought him a scotch and soda at the infamous Winners Circle at the Hilton on Skelly drive.

He is a people person of extraordinary skill.

 

[AbsoluteZer0]

1. I was in Oxford, MS on business (used to live in Jackson) and ran into Duece McAllister. He was huge is all I remember about him. I didn't actually approach him. He was drafted not long after that day.

2. About a year ago I was coming out of the neighborhood gym (in Austin I might add) when someone saw my huge OU tat on my leg and yelled out BOOMER. Of course I yelled SOONER and he told me to come over to chat. It turned out to be Billy Brooks and we had a nice conversation. He gave me his cell phone number and said he was having a get together in a week. I forgot about it and never called. But he was one hell of a cool guy.

3. Met Mike Stoops getting onto a plane in Austin. Didn't say anything except "hey coach!" and shook his hand. I'm sure he just wanted to get on the plane.

4. Stayed at a hotel in Arizona and got to ride the elevator with a bunch of Philadelphia Eagles. I didn't realize who they were until I was getting off and they mentioned something about the upcoming game. I was like "damn these guys are huge" when I got on the elevator though.

5. Met Jim Ross way back in the mid 80's when my Uncle worked for Channel 6. He was fun to talk to.

6. I didn't actually get to say anything (and probably wouldn't have because he was a nobody at the time) but when I was a kid, my dad was a member of a very popular country band in Tulsa and besides getting to meet several really famous country musicians, he played at a bar in Stillwater I think it was, but Garth was a bouncer there. I don't even really remember the guy but I do remember being at the location because I shouldn't have been.

 

[Medic007]

Oh, Medic you're that guy...

Bon mots aside.

Go ahead and regale us with when you got C. Everett Koops autograph...
If you must.

Well, nothing on C Everett Koop, but I do gots stuff about Queen Noor of Jordan, Mikhail Gorbachev, George Tenet, Bush 41, Bush 43, Al Gore, and several princes of Jordan.

Keith Richards. U2. Black Eyed Peas. Mel Tillis. Willie Nelson. Every other artist from that hateful benefit concert. Neil Diamond. Guns n Roses. There's more. Of course Toby K.

Little Joe. Boz. KD. Very funny Jermaine Gresham story. Sammy B. Curtis Lofton. Oh man Curtis Lofton. Phil Loadholt. AD. Blake Griffin. In fact, just about all of the former OU stars before they were stars dating back to 1995.

Now I'm just bragging. My job and my outgoing personality make rubbing elbows fairly routine...

 

[JConXtsy]

Growing up a swimmer in Bartlesville for Phillips 66 offered the opportunity to swim with many an Olympian. For those unaware, P66 founded USS (United States Swimming), so they were always involved in bringing big names to the area - USS showing appreciation for their founder and biggest donor. I was an early 90s swimmer, so a lot of the names would be meaningless here but most of you probably remember Janet Evans. She trained with us for a couple of days, or maybe a week.
The way most swim teams train is by grouping similar speed swimmers together by lane. Our team had the fastest in Lane 1 which obviously was comprised of the best 16-18 year old boys. Needless to say, Janet trained in Lane 1 with us guys. Also needless to say, we were very distracted those days.



In college, I was the grill cook at Danny's Steakhouse and Trattoria. I think it was in the same location that Louie's Bar and Grill is at now on 36th and Robinson. This story must have been in 1998 or 1999 just after Barry had moved back to Norman after coaching the Cowboys.

Late one night after we had finished dinner service and were already cleaning the kitchen, the owner, Danny, came back to the kitchen and asked if we could fire everything back up. We stared at him like, "no." And then he said, "Barry's here and he's hungry!" We reluctantly started the kitchen back up.

A few minutes later, Barry comes into the kitchen by himself without warning or caution like he owned the place. He was pretty smashed. He then went around and was patting us all on the back hard and thanking us for cooking him dinner so late at night. He went into a full 5-10 minute speech about how cooking takes a lot of teamwork and what we do is hard, etc etc. It was exactly like having a halftime pump-up speech by Barry Switzer full of f-bombs and every colorful use of language possible. It was quite comical.



Just this New Year's Eve, my wife and I went to Lawry's Prime for dinner here in Dallas. As we dropped the car off for valet and we're waiting for our ticket, Tony Dorsett came out of the restaurant and approached the valet desk with us. He left something he needed in his car and wanted his keys to get it out. The valet kid was like, "I need your ticket," and Tony didn't have it. He checked his pockets and came up with nothing. He gave the kid a look like, "I don't have it," and then just pointed at his car and said, "my car's right there, I just need to grab something out of it quick." The valet kid again said, "I need your ticket." Tony sighed, cussed, and turned around to head back into the restaurant, so before he was out of earshot, I looked at the kid and said loud enough for Tony to hear, "You know that's Tony Dorsett, right? I doubt he's looking to steal any vehicles here. Haha."
Tony looked over his shoulder at me as he was opening the restaurant door and just rolled his eyes at me in a manner that said, "I know, right?!"

 

[Soonersincefitty]

Mmm, that's a pretty formidable list.
Neal Diamond? Wowza!

You're right...you're effervescent...like Alka Seltzer.

 

[WhyNotaSooner]

I've mentioned it before, but I met a ton of the Houston Astros & their families as a teenager when I worked at the Dome. Also was able to meet and receive mny autographs for the entertainers that came to the Rodeos back in the day at the Astrodome. Met Johnny Bench while in Manhatton once. I also had the unfortunate mishap of meeting Jesse Jackson at the Phoenix Airport. It was really early in the morning, the weekend of the NBA All Star game. He cam strolling in the lil restaurant with his entourage, shook hands with the cooks, and then made his way toward us and the tables. He was pleasant enough, smiled and said Good Morning. Then a young Asian couple that could not speak english spotted him and asked for a picture with him, he obliged. They asked me to take the picture which I did. Then Jesse looks at me and says, "Perhaps they will trade off and take a picture for you", at which I told him, "No Thank You". He just smiled and said "OK".

But one of my more pleasant memories of meeting famous folks was Jeff Foxworthy. We did a quick weekend to Vegas awhile back to celebrate our wedding anniversary and went to see Foxworthy. His entire act that night was about married couples and such. We had great seats with a booth right up front. So he picked on us a bit throughout the show. After the show while we were leaving, the Maitre'D approached us and told us that Jeff would like to see us for a minute. so we followed to the back room and he came out of his dressing room, spoke to us, we took pictures and he set us up for dinner that night at the hotel. He was really a very funny man but also warm and charming as well. Good times.

Living in Houston, I was never around too many OU players and/or Coaches, although the daughter met Bob Stoops recently at a private airport while he was on a recruiting trip. She idolizes him and was very excited.

 

[JConXtsy]

That's pretty cool of Foxworthy to bring you all backstage for being the butt of his jokes.

He's seems like a genuinely funny and nice guy based off of his work on Fifth Grader. Stupid show, but you can see his gift. Someone should give him a shot at something bigger.

 

[Plainosooner]

I have two Barry Switzer stories. Barry was the OC until the spring of my senior year.

I was a manager in high school for three years for the Plano football team and then four years at OU. When I was a soph in high school, one of the managers, the only one older than me, got kicked out of the program for sneaking a cigarette in the school parking lot after a bus ride home with the JV football team. Got kicked out in the middle of the season.

So my junior year, when I was spotting the ball during offensive team period Coach Switzer hollered at me: "Manager! Do you smoke?" I wasn't sure how to respond. But I had a hunch, so I said, "Uh, yessir." And he asked if I had any cigarettes in my locker, and I confirmed that I did. So he told me to go get him a cigarette, "and don't foget your lighter." I didn't have a lighter, but brought my matches with me, after another guy took over spotting the ball.

So I brought Barry one of my Camel filters. Barry scolded me for smoking Camels. My dad did the non filters. I paid enough attention in the future to what Barry bought for himself, which were Tarretons. I starting buying Tarretons. And there were several times in the future, that after confirming that I wasn't buying Camels any more that Barry asked to bum a cigarette.

Story two is also a practice story. We had a lot of different tasks during practice. We had ten managers. Four were on the field assigned to an offensive assistant coach and four for the defense. One had to time practice and one was kind of an oversight job. But during the team period everybody was together, with pretty much only the ball being spotted to do. You'd have one ball to spot, then go retrieve the other ball from the previously run play and alternate them. Sometimes, another guy would have to go chase a bad throw if a player didn't.

When I was a kid, Raymond Berry was one of my heroes. He was a slow but very effective receiver who worked his butt off, eventually ending up in the Hall of Fame, along with his quarterback, John Unitas. They were the originators of the sideline throw, which was trrown out past the sidelines with the catch by Berry in his outstretched hands with only his toes inbounds. I loved that look and practiced it a lot.

If the quarterback kept on the previous play, usually Jack Mildren, we had a little ritual where instead of retrieving the ball, I'd go run an out route back toward the line of scrimmage around the 45 and whover had the ball would throw it to me on an out route. I'm a good, not a great athlete.But I did that little move for three years and got to be pretty good at it, especially if the throw was good. I had small, but pretty decent hands and developed good fundamentals.

One day my senior year, we're doing the routine and Barry hollered, "manager. Manager, you're pretty good. You ought to play. You're as big as Pruitt." Now that was true. But Greg had muscle definition like few players in the early 70s when we did very lilttle weight training. He also won the Big 8 indoor sprint champion, running on a whim. I likely couldn't have broken five flat in the 40. And I didn't even play high school football. But it's kind of who Barry was.

Four years later, there was another manager who played center in high school at Ardmore. I'd seen him around a little, because his senior year of high school, he knew he'd be joining a couple of other guys from Ardmore who were already managers at OU. After I graduated, he started snapping in the pre practice routine for extra points and sometimes for field goals, when most players were warming up. By his senior year, he was OUr field goal snapper. Of course, his most famous snap, was called too high in the 1976 RRR, when we scored our only touchdown with two minutes left to tie the score, but Bud Hiebert's failure to catch it and get it down, cost us a win in the 6-6 final. So Barry enjoyed finding players in strange places.

I don't think I've ever met a Sooner who played for him as head coach, who didn't love playing for him. I was stupid enough to think he was serious. For about 40 seconds.

 

[Dastardly Deed]

Had a sick relative in Dallas who was a big OU fan. I wanted to get him something special so I went to the building where Jason White worked (some financial firm years ago) and asked him to sign one of those white/red OU footballs you get in fan stores. He was very accommodating with his signature and was a very nice guy to talk to briefly. We have a picture of him with my wife and me right afterwards.

Also said hello to Barry Switzer in a bar/restaurant one evening in Norman. He was alone and having a drink. Does that count?

 

[Oklabama]

I've seen Barry out and about at least a half dozen or more times, and I've never once been introduced to him. But almost every time I've seen him, he makes me feel like we know each other. Obviously, we don't, but the guy seems like he never meets a stranger. I have to admit that almost every time I've run into Barry I was drinking....and I'm fairly certain he was too. So that may explain a lot. Regardless, when I think of Barry Switzer, I think of a guy that I would like to hang with just for the fun of it.

 

[owenfieldreams]

I am not sure quite where to begin. First, I am somewhat reluctant to list all such encounters for fear of appearing to be bragging. I have been fortunate to have had numerous encounters with famous people, sports related and otherwise. I have met Henry Kissinger, James Baker, John Cornyn, W (when he was governor), John Tower, James Woolsey, B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland, Tina Turner, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Ralph Blaine, Eddie Bracken, Mary Martin,Sammy Davis Jr., Clint Black, Mark Chestnut, Dick Enberg, Harry Carey, Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, August Busch III, Warren Moon, Bum Phillips, Dan Pastorini, Tony Dorsett, E.J. Holub, Elvin Bethea, Darryl Royal, Barry Switzer, Rex Norris, Bobby Proctor, Larry Lacewell, Paul Benien, Johnny Benien, Karl Milstead, Jon Milstead, John David Crow,Peter Gardere, Ray Poage,Walter Fondren, Kenny Bernstein.......there are more but I simply can't name them all. There is a story behind each but suffice it to say, many were the result of my years as an executive in the Anheuser-Busch family. I have sat in the Cardinal broadcast booth during a game with Buck and Shannon and actually made bar calls with them and Harry Carey. Bum was on a VIP list for free beer and he and his wife became close friends. In fact, we are spending the weekend with Debbie in October at their ranch outside of Goliad. Most of the OU staff would come to my home for a pre party before the annual Oil Bowl in Wichita Falls in the 70's. I haven't even mentioned friendships made through my brother-in-law with the O'Neals, Gene Calame, and Jimmy Harris. I met Gerald Ford before he became president. Went to school with Frank Keating. Met Tanya Tucker out in LA. Dick Enberg and I flew back from an AB convention in San Diego together. Elvin Bethea worked with me for AB so we all went to his induction to the HOA in Canton. I met his whole induction class including Marcus Allen, Hank Stram, James Lofton, & Joe Delamielleure. I have met a number of Astros from the early 90's as well as Rockets from their championship years in the mid-90's. Went dove hunting with Keith Moreland.

I know, this is obnoxious isn't it. I have been very fortunate in my career.

 

[Soonersincefitty]

Well Owen, it aint bragging if it's fact.

Anheuser Busch? That's huge.

 

[owenfieldreams]

I forgot to mention Robert Newhouse. He worked for AB as a representative for our Natural Light brand and we would make bar calls with him. Also, I was co-chair of the host committee of the Pioneer Bowl in W.F. and had the good fortune to meet several football notables in that capacity. Roy Kramer was HC of Central Michigan when they played in the Div. 11 NC. Later we visited the Kramers in Mt.Pleasant and after that visited his office when he was AD @ Vandy. Of course, he went on the be commissioner of the SEC and is the guy who started the BCS. Big John Merritt was the legendary coach at Tennessee State and we visited him on the practice field in Nashville after I had hosted his team in the NC. That squad had John Holland, Waymon Bryant, Cleveland Eland, Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam and Too Tall Jones as members. I spent an entire week with them leading up to the bowl game. I assume you all remember Buck Nystrom. He was on the OU staff but when I met him he was coaching at Northern Michigan. They also played in the Pioneer Bowl.

 

[owenfieldreams]

Finally.....and then I'll stop, AB sponsored a PRCA "Challenge of Champions" and as a result I met and spent considerable time with Monty "Hawkeye" Henson, Jack "Cadillac" Ward, Bobby "Hooter" Brown, T.J. Walter, Butch Kirby (and his wife Connie Combs), Denny Flynn and Bobby Delveccio. Also became friends with Benny Beutler and Hadley Barrett.

When you are in the beer business the sponsorships provide all kinds of celebrity encounters. Some of the other mentions I have made are as a result of different circumstances. I went to school with Jim Woolsey and Frank Keating. Karl Milstead married a girl from WF and still lives there. Close friend in Houston who's sister was married to James Baker. She passed away and Baker remarried. Met Kissinger at Reagan's second inauguration. B.B. King and Bobby Blue Bland did a military installation tour sponsored by Bud and when they appeared at Shepherd AFB we spent a lot of time with them on their tour bus. Liza, Frank, & Sammy did a Michelob sponsored event called the "Ultimate Event" we met them backstage at the old Summit in Houston (now Joel Osteen's church). Met Dorsett at the HOA in Canton and to this day I feel I owe him an apology. Poor guy had to listen to me go on and on about Scott Hill's hit. I was obnoxious. Of all the celebrities I have ever met, with out a doubt, Bum Phillips was the best......what you saw was what you got. A truly genuine man and once you knew him you were his friend for life.

 

[Dastardly Deed]

OK, if we're freaking gonna brag (and admit our age), I shook hands with John F. Kennedy when he was still a Senator and campaigning for President. It was in Atchison, Kansas, in the year God-knows-when. Time magazine took a picture of him talking to us kids and published it, naturally cropping the picture immediately to the right of the guy I was next to. Kennedy seemed nice but kinda shy. Also, he had this weird accent that dropped the "r's."

 

[soonerinkeywest]

Was also stationed in Key West the same time Mike Leach was there.You would see him out all of the time having some drinks. One day he and I guess his wife were riding their bikes along the beach ,I passed him going the other way wearing my OU hat, He looked down at me while he was on his cell, and I gave him a half ass salute. He smiled and nodded. It was after everything that happened at Tech.Probably doesn't count as "Meeting" him.

 

[veritas59]

Finally.....and then I'll stop, AB sponsored a PRCA "Challenge of Champions" and as a result I met and spent considerable time with Monty "Hawkeye" Henson, Jack "Cadillac" Ward, Bobby "Hooter" Brown, T.J. Walter, Butch Kirby (and his wife Connie Combs), Denny Flynn and Bobby Delveccio. Also became friends with Benny Beutler and Hadley Barrett.

When you are in the beer business the sponsorships provide all kinds of celebrity encounters. Some of the other mentions I have made are as a result of different circumstances. I went to school with Jim Woolsey and Frank Keating. Karl Milstead married a girl from WF and still lives there. Close friend in Houston who's sister was married to James Baker. She passed away and Baker remarried. Met Kissinger at Reagan's second inauguration. B.B. King and Bobby Blue Bland did a military installation tour sponsored by Bud and when they appeared at Shepherd AFB we spent a lot of time with them on their tour bus. Liza, Frank, & Sammy did a Michelob sponsored event called the "Ultimate Event" we met them backstage at the old Summit in Houston (now Joel Osteen's church). Met Dorsett at the HOA in Canton and to this day I feel I owe him an apology. Poor guy had to listen to me go on and on about Scott Hill's hit. I was obnoxious. Of all the celebrities I have ever met, with out a doubt, Bum Phillips was the best......what you saw was what you got. A truly genuine man and once you knew him you were his friend for life.

I think we have Forrest Gump among us.

 

[MdSooner#1]

I have two Barry Switzer stories. Barry was the OC until the spring of my senior year.

I was a manager in high school for three years for the Plano football team and then four years at OU. When I was a soph in high school, one of the managers, the only one older than me, got kicked out of the program for sneaking a cigarette in the school parking lot after a bus ride home with the JV football team. Got kicked out in the middle of the season.

So my junior year, when I was spotting the ball during offensive team period Coach Switzer hollered at me: "Manager! Do you smoke?" I wasn't sure how to respond. But I had a hunch, so I said, "Uh, yessir." And he asked if I had any cigarettes in my locker, and I confirmed that I did. So he told me to go get him a cigarette, "and don't foget your lighter." I didn't have a lighter, but brought my matches with me, after another guy took over spotting the ball.

So I brought Barry one of my Camel filters. Barry scolded me for smoking Camels. My dad did the non filters. I paid enough attention in the future to what Barry bought for himself, which were Tarretons. I starting buying Tarretons. And there were several times in the future, that after confirming that I wasn't buying Camels any more that Barry asked to bum a cigarette.

Story two is also a practice story. We had a lot of different tasks during practice. We had ten managers. Four were on the field assigned to an offensive assistant coach and four for the defense. One had to time practice and one was kind of an oversight job. But during the team period everybody was together, with pretty much only the ball being spotted to do. You'd have one ball to spot, then go retrieve the other ball from the previously run play and alternate them. Sometimes, another guy would have to go chase a bad throw if a player didn't.

When I was a kid, Raymond Berry was one of my heroes. He was a slow but very effective receiver who worked his butt off, eventually ending up in the Hall of Fame, along with his quarterback, John Unitas. They were the originators of the sideline throw, which was trrown out past the sidelines with the catch by Berry in his outstretched hands with only his toes inbounds. I loved that look and practiced it a lot.

If the quarterback kept on the previous play, usually Jack Mildren, we had a little ritual where instead of retrieving the ball, I'd go run an out route back toward the line of scrimmage around the 45 and whover had the ball would throw it to me on an out route. I'm a good, not a great athlete.But I did that little move for three years and got to be pretty good at it, especially if the throw was good. I had small, but pretty decent hands and developed good fundamentals.

One day my senior year, we're doing the routine and Barry hollered, "manager. Manager, you're pretty good. You ought to play. You're as big as Pruitt." Now that was true. But Greg had muscle definition like few players in the early 70s when we did very lilttle weight training. He also won the Big 8 indoor sprint champion, running on a whim. I likely couldn't have broken five flat in the 40. And I didn't even play high school football. But it's kind of who Barry was.

Four years later, there was another manager who played center in high school at Ardmore. I'd seen him around a little, because his senior year of high school, he knew he'd be joining a couple of other guys from Ardmore who were already managers at OU. After I graduated, he started snapping in the pre practice routine for extra points and sometimes for field goals, when most players were warming up. By his senior year, he was OUr field goal snapper. Of course, his most famous snap, was called too high in the 1976 RRR, when we scored our only touchdown with two minutes left to tie the score, but Bud Hiebert's failure to catch it and get it down, cost us a win in the 6-6 final. So Barry enjoyed finding players in strange places.

I don't think I've ever met a Sooner who played for him as head coach, who didn't love playing for him. I was stupid enough to think he was serious. For about 40 seconds.

His name is actually Bud Hebert. He did botch the PAT during that game. But I also remember him as the defensive MVP of the 79? (That was when they gave a defensive player and offensive player named )Orange bowl vs FSU. He had the most facial hair for anyone at that time.

 

[Plainosooner]

I think we have Forrest Gump among us.

But Forest worked for Dr Pepper.